Ron Stoppable, Ultimate Monkey Master
by Quis Custodiet
Summary: A terrible indiscretion splits Team Possible at the worst possible time. With no friends left, Ron Stoppable must turn to his greatest enemies in order to claim the mantle of Ultimate Monkey Master and stave off destruction of the universe. RONGO!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Home Coming

Ron Stoppable stretched his gangly limbs in order to bring some life back into them. The plane ride from Japan was incredibly long and although he had done it many times since turning eighteen it never seemed to get easier. The only thing that made him willingly leap on the plane at Tokyo International Airport was the excitement he had at seeing his girlfriend of four years and best friend since pre-k, Kim Possible.

"_Hopefully soon to be Kim Stoppable_."

Ron stuck his hand in his jacket pocket and wrapped it around a soft velvet box that held the majority of his hopes and dreams. It had cost quite a sizable chunk of his Naco Trust Fund, but Kim was the best and to him she deserved the best. Besides he still had a very large fortune at his command – ever since he blew his original royalty check from Bueno Nacho his parents had been taking the money from his royalty checks and investing it for him in a trust. Now that he was twenty-one years old he was extremely thankful to his Mom and Dad. Unlike a lot of young men, Ron had the means to make sure that whatever life he embarked on with his bride was going to be done in style.

"_I wonder where Kim is going to want to go on the honeymoon? We've been pretty much all over the world before we were eighteen. Well, everywhere but Pittsburgh… For some reason I don't think KP is going to be too keen on that idea._"

Ron chuckled to himself. He might just suggest it to her anyway to get a laugh, he liked it best when Kim was laughing.

Picking his luggage up from the baggage carousel, Ron took a quick look at his Ronnunicator and checked to see if anyone had tried to contact him. He hadn't yet turned his tracking chip back on so hopefully no one knew that he had just arrived at Boulder Airport. He was supposed to come back two days from now, but he wanted to surprise Kim with an early return, a romantic dinner he'd cook himself and a marriage proposal.

"_Maybe I should call Wade and check to see if Kim is out on a mission or not? Or I can just get back to the apartment and surprise her… if she's not there I can find out whats up and besides it'd give me time to cook a totally badical dinner!_"

The display on the device was still, there were no flashing messages waiting for him, just as it had been for several days now. The last time he had talked to Kim was almost a week ago and it was very short, she was taken off the line by having to go on a mission. She had been having a lot of missions recently and Ron was worried about it. After all, even though she was Kim Possible, even super heroes needed a break every now and then.

As Ron stepped off a bus that had taken him to the long-term parking lot, he started to idly hum "their song" to himself while he looked for his deep blue Mustang GT. It was one of the many presents he had bought himself a year ago when he had finally matured into his Trust Fund. At first his parents weren't too thrilled with the purchase, but when Ron pointed out that he couldn't very well use his scooter to get to classes in the winter they had relented. His mom probably would have preferred that Ron had gotten a more sensible car like a Camery or a Civic, but secretly his dad was thrilled – Mr. Stoppable had always wanted a pony car himself so some part of himself was living vicariously through his son.

Sliding behind the wheel and turning over the engine, Ron revved the car a little. It had been sitting here for three months and still sounded perfect – he was very pleased. He put the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot towards the freeway. An hour later he was seeing the familiar sights of downtown Upperton. Sure it wasn't quite exactly home, but it had been his and Kim's home for the last three years since both of them began to attend Upperton University. Coasting to a stop at a light, he looked up to his left and saw his apartment – the lights were out.

"_KP must not be home yet – that's perfect, gives me some time to hit up the gourmet grocery and then make a little love feast. _"

Within a couple of minutes Ron stood in the parking lot of his second favorite store in the world. It was a little mom and pop shop, originally a local grocery store. However times had changed and most people choose to purchase their sundries from the huge chain stores that dotted the urban sprawl so the owner of this place had wisely started stocking more out of the way goods that the big box stores didn't carry. It was more or less a gourmet chef's dream and Ron paused for a moment after he entered the doors to take in the exotic scents that wafted through the air.

"_Ah, now this definitely feels like home!_"

Three months of eating nothing but Japanese food had taken a greater toll on Ronald Stoppable than he cared to admit. Not that he didn't like Japanese food. In fact it was quite delicious, it was just he had an elective palate that demanded variety in his meals. As far as he was concerned his greatest accomplishment of the last three months was making an authentic pollo con arro with molé sauce out of ingredients he found at the standard Japanese market. It was so good it even got a compliment out of Sensei who had probably never eaten a non-Japanese dish in his life.

Browsing up and down the aisles Ron decided he was going to go Italian tonight – it was Kim's favorite. He placed a few items in his basket and then proceeded to the front check-out where he found his first familiar face since he'd gotten back to the States.

"Ron! How're you doing?" greeted the older gentleman at the counter.

"Pretty good Joe, I just got back from Japan today and I had a hankering for something without tofu or seaweed in it!" he smiled back.

The older man took the basket from Ron's hands and then began to punch numbers into his ancient mechanical cash-register.

"So how's the girlfriend? Did you…" his voice trailed off.

"I haven't seen her yet, I literally just got off the plane. And… well let's just say that tonight is the night my good friend." The Ron-shine was in full effect as he beamed at the man.

"You know what Ron, this calls for something special. Hold on a minute."

The man left his position behind the register and walked over to a wine rack to his left. He studied it for a moment and then came back and presented Ron with a bottle of red wine.

"Take this Ron, on the house – and congratulations!"

Ron studied the bottle and smiled.

"Hey this is the good stuff Joe, thanks a lot!" he responded.

"Oh yeah, I figure the missus will like it. She comes in here every now and then and buys a bottle like that. It must be her favorite." The old man winked at Ron as he placed the last of the groceries in a plastic bag.

"Really…?" Ron was a little perplexed. Kim wasn't a really huge drinker so this came as a bit of a shock to him.

"_Oh well, we're both over twenty-one now. Just as Kim would say, 'no big'._"

Ron thanked the man again and left the store for his car. Tonight was shaping up to be one to remember. First he'd ply the beautiful Ms. Possible with great food and wine, then he'd smother her with kisses and ask her if she wouldn't mind being Mrs. Stoppable.

Ron fiddled with the dial on his radio a little bit while he drove home.

"_Nothing but commercials, maybe I should buy satellite radio for the Ron-mobile._"

Sighing a little bit, he drove up to his parking spot only to see that it was taken.

"_Grr… what's the point of having parking passes if people just let their friends take any available spots?_"

Looking to his left he noticed Kim's car parked in her spot. One of the reasons why Ron had rented this place was because it had two parking spots and both he and Kim needed cars if they were going to live off campus and still attend classes. Sure it had cost a little bit more than what was in Kim's budget but Ron didn't tell her that. Instead he covered the extra cost himself – he didn't want to worry Kim or make her feel guilty. Besides, he was a Naco Millionaire – what's a couple hundred bucks a month between lovers.

Ron brought his car around to the street and was able to find a spot just a half block down from his apartment. Gathering his luggage in one hand and his groceries in the other he made the short walk to his front door and struggled with his keys. Eventually, without placing either of his bags down, he managed to prop the front door open and he used his foot to close it behind him.

The apartment was dark and he could hear soft strains of music coming from the back room.

"_Hmm… she didn't hear me come in. Bon diggity opportunity here Ronman._"

Ron placed his luggage down in the hallway, not noticing the extra pair of shoes sitting next to Kim's and then walked over to the kitchen to set down his groceries. Grabbing the bottle of wine and two glasses he tried to stealthily creep down the hallway to surprise the love of his life.

He stood for a moment before their bedroom and placed his hand on the door that was slightly open. With a soft motion he pushed it in and witnessed the worst sight of his life.

Sitting on the bed, bolt upright, was his love – Kim. She had a bottle of wine in her hand, Ron noted clinically that it was the same kind he had received as a gift from his friend, and she was pouring the contents of the bottle down her naked chest. A man had her wrapped in his arms and his mouth was greedily moving across her pale skin, now stained with wine, licking and slurping up the alcohol.

There was a moment of sublime silence where everything hung in the air. It was like time had stopped for Ron as his brain took in the sight before him. Suddenly all three people in the dark room were brought to acute awareness by the sound of glasses and bottles hitting the floor.

Kim was the first one to move. Years of athleticism and a dangerous occupation having honed her reflexes to a razor sharp edge. She whipped her head around to face Ron, her hair blazing a crimson trail in the moonlight. Realization hit her face at what had just happened.

"Ron!" she shouted.

The man that was holding Kim practically pushed her to the side. The light from the window hit him on the face and Ron knew instantly who it was.

"_Kim… and Mankey? No… this isn't happening. No…_"

"Ron, wait!" screamed Kim as she ran after her "boyfriend'. She didn't even bother to grab a sheet or a towel to cover her nakedness. Ron was almost at the door by the time she caught up to him, wrapping her small hand around his wrist.

"Ron, we need to talk!" she said in a slightly more subdued tone. Her grip on his arm wasn't letting go.

"No. No we don't need to talk. I'm going." Ron turned his face away from Kim's nude form, he didn't want to see her this way. He didn't want to remember her naked in the arms of another man. Tears started to fall down his cheek.

"Look, don't you start crying on me! This is all your fault!" Kim had her back up. This was not what she had planned. All the thoughts she had of hurting Ron over the last month seemed to be washed aside by a huge wave of guilt that smothered her conscience. Her words didn't have a fraction of the anger that she had intended.

Ron on the other hand was livid. He had never been hurt so deeply in his life and a dark feeling of anger that he had never felt before welled up in his heart.

"My fault? MY FAULT? I'm not the one that was screwing monkey-boy in OUR bed!" he spat at Kim, spittle literally flying from the edges of his mouth.

"Whatever Ron, you don't need to pretend with me. I know all about your secret trips, I know why you wouldn't tell me where you were going, I know all about that slanty-eyed bitch you're banging!"

Kim's anger finally came to her rescue. She had been starting to feel like she couldn't go through with her revenge and a small part of her wanted nothing more than to throw herself at Ron's feet and apologize, begging for him to take her back. She hardened her heart with the knowledge that Ron's infidelity had begun long before her own.

"_Slanty-eyed bitch? What the hell is she talking about…_"

Realization began to dawn on Ron Stoppable. Did Kim think he was having an affair with Yori? Is that what she thought he was doing on his frequent trips to Japan?

"What the hell are you talking about Kim?" he asked, his voice quaking with anger.

Kim didn't respond immediately, instead she strode over to their entertainment center and retrieved a stack of papers. Turning around she threw them at Ron's head.

"That's what I'm talking about! You turned off your tracking chip but I had Wade put a satellite on you. Don't you dare lie to me Ronald Dean Stoppable, I know all about you and that slut!"

Kim was at the height of her anger. Weeks of worrying and indecision had brought her to this point. At first she didn't want to believe that Ron, _her Ron_, would cheat on her. As the days went by and the pictures came in she couldn't deny it anymore and instead of sadness her prodigious temper took hold of her. If Ron was going to cheat on her, then she was going to get back at him. After all, two can play at that game.

Ron grasped at the papers Kim had flung at him. He realized they were photographs. High quality photos done by a spy satellite that had been tracking him for the last three months. On the top of the stack was a picture of him and Yori on the beach in Bali during a break in their training. It had been a present from a wealthy businessman who was grateful that they had rescued his daughter from kidnappers. Flipping a page he saw the two of them again at a traditional Japanese festival, decked out in kimonos and chatting merrily. Another page and he saw the two of them sitting on a blanket with a bottle of sake before them taking in the Japanese celebration of Sakura viewing. The last page he saw was the one that he held onto the longest. In it was him and Yori, flitting from shop to shop looking for a wedding ring. Ron had foolishly asked for a womans opinion on what type of ring he should buy Kim.

"This…. This is what you mean KP? This is why you were screwing Mankey in our house?" Sadness was starting to replace the anger of a moment ago. It was a misunderstanding, a huge, colossal misunderstanding. He didn't know how, or even if, they would ever recover from this.

"Shut up Ron! I don't want to hear your lies. Just tell me one thing – when is the wedding huh? Are you going to introduce that whore to your parents? To my parents? You know they think of you as a son, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear you dumped their daughter for a Japanese side-dish!"

Ron didn't know what to say. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to say anything. The image of Mankey with his arms wrapped around Kim was burned into his mind and the fact that Kim was naked before him, purple stains from wine still on her breasts - it just drove him insane.

"This was for you KP. You should thank that _slut_ for helping me pick it out."

Ron had dug into his coat pocket and threw a small dark object at Kim's feet. Quickly he grabbed his luggage from the floor and stormed out the door, not taking a second to look behind him.

Kim sat there stunned for a moment, digesting the words that Ron had just said to her. Slowly she kneeled down on the floor, her hand going out to touch the velvety smoothness of the box at her feet. She started to sob a little bit and it was with shaking hands that she lifted the box from the floor.

She looked at it for a moment. She didn't want to open it, she felt sure she knew what was inside anyway, but she couldn't stop her self. She had to know, had to know for sure. Quaking a little bit, she brought her other hand to the box and slowly bent back the lid. Inside was a beautiful diamond engagement ring, a ring that any woman would be happy to see on her finger, especially if it was given to her by the man she loved.

The sudden realization of what she had done was crushing her heart like a ton of bricks.

"_This was for me? Was I wrong? Ron…"_

"Ron… Ron… Ron… " she was chanting in between body wracking sobs. She was so overcome with guilt at what she had done that she didn't even hear Josh Mankey coming up besides her and asking her if she was ok.

Not that she would have responded in the affirmative anyway. She had just destroyed the heart of the one man she had ever truly loved. She idly wondered if there was ever any turning back from the terrible thing she had done.

-

A/N: My First KP fic! Sorry if it was a little angsty, but if you are going to break up Ron and Kim that's just the way it goes, right? I wanted to keep everyone in character so I went about creating a situation that capitalized on Kim's jealously and tendancy to jump to conclusions. Maybe she wouldn't sleep with Mankey for revenge if she thought Ron was cheating on her, but we don't know for sure do we? I think it's a possibility, after all, Kim is pretty competitive and to someone like that I think this sort of revenge would be pretty high on their list of ways to get back at a cheating lover.

I plan on continuing this story, so please keep waiting for another chapter. If you want, also read my Love Hina and Vandread fictions.

Thanks and please remember to review! I love reviews :)

QC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – The Morning After

Ron Stoppable fiddled with his car stereo and for probably about the hundredth time he said he was going to absolutely, positively, first thing in the morning, going to get a satellite tuner for the Ron-mobile. Eventually he just lamented the downfall of commercial radio and gave up in disgust. His destination was just ahead, so he slipped his car into neutral and coasted into the driveway.

He was here. It'd taken him about five hours and a lot of soul searching, but eventually he had arrived where he knew he needed to be. Before him stood the one place he always went to whenever he was feeling lost and confused - his parents house. He had no idea how his Mom and Dad would take the news of his and Kim's break-up, but he was sure of one thing – he could never, ever tell them how it happened. The Stoppables were great friends with the Possibiles; any news of Kim's infidelity would strain their relationship and sooner or later reach the ears of Mr. & Mrs. Dr. P. What Kim had said at their parting was right, her parents thought of him as their own son. He didn't want what had happened between him and Kim to break their hearts.

He certainly wasn't doing it for Kim. He told himself this over and over again, but deep down inside he knew it wasn't true. Try as he might, he still loved her and part of him was wishing that he was simply trapped in a nightmare – maybe a device of Dr. Dementors, any sort of excuse to escape the hell he was in would have been welcome.

Dawn was still a couple of hours off and the lights were all off in the house. Turning off his Mustang and retrieving his suitcase from the back seat he walked up to the front door and looked for his house key. Even though he hadn't lived here for three years, he kept it. It had actually never occurred to him to give it back to his parents, after all above all things this was _their_ house, the _family's_ house. The Stoppables may never have been as wildly successful as their neighbors the Possibles, but when it came to being a family they were right up there with Middletons most famous clan.

As Ron entered the foyer of his parents house a wave of nostalgia swept over him. It had been eight months since he had last visited his parents; five months before he had left for Japan he had celebrated Passover with his parents and Kim. It had made his mother extremely happy. She loved Kim, like her own daughter, but she still wasn't happy about the prospect of her only child marrying a gentile.

Kim herself had actually been baptized in the Protestant Church, which sort of made sense to Ron – after all, how could the worlds most successful teenage super hero be anything other than a W.A.S.P.? Ron joked about this a lot to Kim, but she took it in stride – the Possibles were actually not very religious which made sense too with her parents being a neurosurgeon and a rocket scientist. Ron's parents on the other hand were a salesman and a secretary. In fact, Ron's mother had the most education out of the last two generations of Stoppables; she had completed an English B.A. at Middleton U. It had seemed kind of sad to Ron that "smart people" like the Possibles didn't have much religion; it was almost like they were missing out. He never talked about it much, but Ron was pretty sure that God had been watching over him ever since he was a small child, not very much could explain how he had managed to live as long as he had.

It was during this same Passover dinner that Kim had dropped a bombshell that finally won over Meryl Stoppable. Kim was helping Ron's Mom clear away the dishes from the dinner when she started to talk to no one in particular.

"That was a great dinner, you know I was thinking… I'd like to go with Ron to Temple again…" Kim's normally strong voice sounded kind of meek as she was trying hard to not sound a little bit _too pleasing_ to her prospective mother-in-law.

"Oh really Kimberley? You know you're always welcome to join us any time." Meryl Stoppable smiled at the young lady.

"_Well I guess it's nice that she's taking an interest in our family like this._"

Rabbi Katz, who had been sharing dinner with them, had just entered the room in time to hear Kim's attempt at breaking the news. He smiled a little bit and then did an obviously fake clearing of his throat while he looked at Kim.

Kim caught the look and then blushed a little.

"Actually I was thinking about something a bit more… permanent."

The last word was said so softly it was almost a whisper. Meryl Stoppable placed the dishes she was carrying down in the sink and turned to face Kim, not quite sure if she had heard what she thought. Then she turned her face to Rabbi Katz and arched an eyebrow in question.

Rabbi Katz placed down the serving dish he had been carrying and broke out into a broad grin.

"It's true – Kimberley and I have been having quite a few talks recently and she's been thinking about making the plunge."

Meryl Stoppable blinked, attempting to digest what she had just heard.

"Is that true Kim?" she asked.

"_Wow… Kim and not Kimberley, I must be making some progress here._"

"Yeah… well, I've been thinking about it for a while now. I'm still not 100 percent sure, but I've talked to my parents about it and they don't seem to have a problem. I guess I'm just waiting to make up my mind…"

Kim stared hard at the kitchen door. From behind it everyone could hear the strains of laughter of Ron and his Dad telling jokes to each other. That look wasn't lost on Meryl Stoppable; smiling at Kim she wrapped her arms around the younger woman and gave her a fierce hug. It wasn't the first time that Kim had been hugged by Ron's mom, but she felt sure that it was more of a "I'm on your side" sort of hug than a "You're a good friend to Ronald" kind of hug.

"Don't worry", Ron's mom had whispered to her, "His father was kind of slow too."

It was so sweet that Kim had wanted to cry, instead she just giggled and returned the hug.

As Ron flopped down on the couch in the living room he thought grimly too himself that there would be no more Passover dinners in the Stoppable house with Kim Possible. He used the remote control to turn on the TV and started to channel-surf. A voice called out softly in the darkness.

"Ronald… is that you?"

Turning off the TV, Ron looked at his Mom. She was clad in a worn pink house robe that she was clutching over her night gown.

"Hi Mom. I just got back from Japan." He said softly.

Meryl Stoppable walked across the living room and sat down besides her son, an obvious look of worry on her face. She didn't say anything yet, instead she just draped her arms around her only child and gave him a hug.

"I'm glad to see you home Ronald, but… why are you _home_?"

Ron paused for a moment. He really wanted to tell his mother everything, but he didn't want to watch the fallout from that conversation. So instead he decided to go with the truth, simplified.

"Ah Mom, me and Kim had a fight."

His Mom stared at him for a little bit and then she hugged him again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"That's ok Mom, I think I'm just going to go to sleep. I haven't really gotten a wink since I left Tokyo International."

"Alright sweetheart. You know your father and I haven't touched your room at all, and you're welcome to stay here as long as it takes…"

Ron smiled at his mom and patted her on the arm. He silently said to himself that he had definitely made the right choice in coming home. A good nights sleep, maybe a tray of Naco's for him and Rufus…

"_Crap, I left Rufus at the apartment. Oh well I'll have to go back there to get my stuff anyway, just wasn't planning on it this soon._"

"Goodnight Mom, sorry for waking you up." Ron said as he walked up the stairs to his room.

"Goodnight baby, talk to you tomorrow… er, this morning… later."

His mom giggled a little bit. She was definitely Ron's mother.

Leaving behind the short lived family reunion, Ron entered the room that he had called his own for most of his life, and for the time being would mostly likely do so again. He softly closed the door behind him so he wouldn't wake his Dad who was probably still sleeping, and placed his luggage on the floor. Sitting on the edge of the bed he looked around at the artifacts and memories of his life in Middleton – he didn't like what he saw. Every item, every picture, every poster, they all reminded him of Kim. It was probably to be expected; they had spent most of their lives as best friends before they became lovers. Still, he didn't really want to see it right now. He wanted to rip down everything from the walls, throw the pictures in his closet and destroy every memory of the beautiful red headed girl that had stolen his heart, but he was tired. Closing his eyes seemed like the best way for him to block out the memories and the pain so that was what he decided to do. For once in his life Ron Stoppable was grateful for the fact that he slept without dreaming about the woman he loved.

-

Kim Possible toweled off the last bit of dampness from her body and fetched the robe that was sitting on her vanity. Her room was a mess, clothes were flung everywhere – causalities of her abortive affair with Josh Mankey. Even her bed was a mess, the sheets were sodden and stained with wine. Gingerly she crept over the entryway of her room, trying to avoid the broken glass that she still hadn't cleaned up. She thought to herself it would be a long time before she wanted to sleep in that room again after what she had done.

She looked at her Kimmunicator for what must have been the fiftieth time since Ron had left. He hadn't tried to contact her. She had been hoping that he would have returned at least one of her messages, but still deep down she knew that it would probably be days before Ron was even able to look at her again.

"_Not after what I did… I don't even deserve to be in the same room as him._"

The sadness that overwhelmed her heart threatened to break free in the form of body rending sobs, but she valiantly held them at bay. She had cried for hours already and she knew that even if she felt like it, no more tears would come to her call. Shortly after Ron had stormed out of their apartment she had thrown Josh Mankey out as well. Now that her "revenge" was complete she didn't need him around any more. The way she had manipulated and treated Josh was yet another thing for her to feel ashamed of. She didn't love Mankey, she knew that, knew it with all her soul. She had just wanted to hurt the man that she _did_ love as much as he had hurt her.

It shredded her soul to pieces to realize that she might have been wrong.

Walking over to her kitchen, Kim sat down at the table and looked at the box that Ron had thrown at her feet. She reached out a hand towards it and removed the engagement ring, twisting it between her fingers.

"_He bought this for me, not for her. Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he tell me where he was going, or what he was doing? How come every time I asked him why, he couldn't tell me? He just told me couldn't say anything more…_"

With a gentle, almost reverent motion, Kim slid the engagement ring onto the correct finger. She held her hand up at an awkward angle, letting the light from the kitchen fixture catch the multi-faceted diamonds that adorned the slender gold band.

"_It's beautiful…_"

For a moment Kim let herself slip into fantasy. She imagined, Ron on one knee, holding her hand and presenting her with this same ring. It was a dream that she felt would never happen now.

"_I need to find out if he is ok at least._"

Kim gathered herself and rubbed her eyes. They were probably red from crying but there wasn't anything she could do about that now. She picked up her Kimmunicator and pressed the button to call up Wade. She felt bad about waking the high school student up so late in the night, but she didn't have much of a choice.

The Kimmunicator beeped for several long seconds and then the background was replaced by the visage of a slightly chubby man rubbing the sleep out of his own eyes.

"Kim?" Wade Load inquired.

"Kim it's like… three o'clock in the morning. What's going on?"

Kim sighed. She didn't want to tell Wade the whole story, even though he was sure to find out at least some of it later.

"Wade, I need to find Ron." She stated.

Wade was now a lot more awake than he was previously and his mind was starting to function properly.

"Shouldn't he still be in Japan? I can fire up the satellite if you want but I think his tracking chip is probably still off."

"No Wade, he's back in the States. He got back today, I just don't know where he is."

Wade stroked his chin thoughtfully, a small goatee that he had started to grow out was bristling between his fingers. Puberty was agreeing with the young man and even his baby fat was starting to go away.

"This is a tough one. The eye in the sky is on the wrong side of the planet, the tracking chip is off and he wouldn't let me tag his Mustang. Hold on let me check something."

Kim blew out a sigh of relief. Wade was onboard and hadn't asked too many questions. She knew that the boy genius could find anyone given enough time and surprisingly it didn't take him very long at all.

"Ah, got it." Wade beamed. He took a great deal of pride in being exceptionally clever.

"Where Wade?" Kim said in a tone that betrayed her anxiety. Thankfully Wade didn't pick up on it.

"Well, he used his credit card about an hour ago to pay for gas. Middleton Gas N' Go. He also bought a microwave burrito, a 24 oz Slurge and last months…" Wade blushed a little bit when he got to the last item on the list.

"Well, anyway – he's in Middleton, or at least he was an hour ago."

"Thanks Wade." Kim went to turn off the Kimmunicator.

"Wait… is that it Kim? Is he in any kind of danger?" Wade asked nervously.

Kim didn't really know how to respond to that. Wade was just as much Ron's friend as he was hers.

"He's probably going to his parent's house, I just didn't know for sure. Thanks again Wade, and sorry for waking you up."

"No problem Kim. Catch ya later." Wade pressed a button on his computer terminal and his picture on the Kimmunicator blinked out.

"_At least he didn't go out to a bar or do something stupid. I feel guilty enough as it is… how did things get so messed up?_"

Kim heard the refrigerator door open behind her and it made her jump a little in her seat. Turning around she spotted the light pink body of one very hungry naked mole rat.

"Rufus…" Kim didn't know what to say. Rufus was more than a pet to Ron; he was like Ron's _other_ best friend. To top it all off, Rufus was _smart_. There could be no way that he didn't know what was going on.

The mole rat looked at Kim for a second and then returned to his foraging in the refrigerator.

"_Even Rufus is ignoring me… not that I can blame him. He probably knew before Ron did anyway._"

For the first time since she had moved into this apartment with Ron, Kim felt like a stranger in her own home. She wanted to flee, but where? If Kim ran home to her own parents, and Ron had done the same, then they would literally be just hundreds of yards from each other. Then there was the whole part about explaining to her parents why her and Ron were renting a place in Upperton while they were both staying at their parent's houses.

"_I need to go some place, but where? I need to find out if Ron was telling me the truth…_"

Once Kim Possible had an idea in her head of a way to solve a problem it latched onto her like a demon. Quickly she flipped on her Kimmunicator and silently apologized to Wade for waking him up for the second time.

"K-Kim?" the boy asked, incredulity slipping into his voice.

"Sorry Wade. I need a ride." She stated.

"Huh? What? Uh… right, right. Where to Kim?" Wade was still fuddled.

Kim paused for a moment, making sure she really wanted to do what she was about to. It was the only way, the only way that she could prove to herself that she was right. If she could just look in that woman's eyes and ask her the truth… then she would know if she was lying or not.

"Japan. I need to go to Japan Wade."

-

The mid-morning sun warmed Ron's face as he started to stir from his dreamless sleep. For long moments he sat there, not quite motivated to get up, but not quite tired enough to go back to sleep.

"_Alright Stoppable, time to get up and face the music._"

Ron pushed himself off his bed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't bothered to change his clothes last night so they were still the same ones that he had put on before he left from Japan. He knew that they, and him, both stunk – but he wasn't feeling up to taking care of it right now, he was just too depressed. Stumbling across the room he made his way downstairs to his parents kitchen. On the table was a plate of food, covered with plastic wrap and a note.

_Ron, _

_Welcome home honey, your father and I went to temple but you looked so tired we didn't want to wake you up. I left some breakfast for you and some money under the plate. Your father says he's sorry he missed you last night. _

_We're having lunch with the Possibles, but please honey – you don't have to show up if you don't want to. I wont say anything unless they do. _

_Love, _

_Mom and Dad_

Ron moved the plate to the side, revealing a crisp twenty-dollar bill. He smiled to himself. He was a millionaire and his mom still tried to give him money and food every time he came home.

"_Typical Jewish mother._"

Ron reheated the breakfast his mother had left for him and sat down to think for a bit. There didn't seem to be an easy way for him to fix his relationship with Kim, and part of him was wondering if he even wanted to. Did he love her? Yes, undoubtedly. Could he ever trust her again?

He didn't have an answer for that.

Ron knew that Kim was a jealous girl, but never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined her jealously would have led her to do something like this. The jealousy came from a secret aspect of Kim's personality that very few people knew. Under that ultra-confident and competent demeanor beat the heart of a woman who was still very insecure with herself. When Kim was feeling sweet and a little shy, sometimes she would kiss Ron and thank him for being there for her. She had told him that even if he wasn't the best fighter or the smartest person in the world, he helped her more than anyone else ever had. She had said that Kim Possible wouldn't be possible without Ron Stoppable being there to believe in her.

That was probably over now too.

It was a hard situation for Ron to wrap his head around. He hadn't just lost his girlfriend, he had also lost his _best friend_ and on top of that they were a team as well. Team Possible. Could any of those relationships ever be recovered?

Again, He didn't have an answer for that.

Ron tossed his dishes in the sink and walked upstairs to take a shower and put on some clothes that didn't smell like they had been dragged over a camels ass. As he turned on the running water in the bathroom he started to contemplate how he was going to spend the first day of his exile.

"_Bueno Nacho? I'd like to see Ned but I just ate… maybe around dinner time._"

He idly started to scrub some shampoo into his sandy blonde hair.

"_I could go drop in on Club Banana and say hi to Mo' – she'll probably flip when she finds out I don't wear clothes from Smarty Mart anymore._"

Out of all their friends Monique had been the one to grow up first. She had done a two year associates degree and then became the manager of the Club Banana that she had worked at all through high school. The last thing Ron had heard was that she was taking corporate training classes to become a regional manager. Ron considered the situation and decided that he would have to wait to visit Monique. She was, after all, more Kim's friend than his and he didn't want to make it seem like he was going behind Kim's back to badmouth her. Kim could be overly protective of her social status at times and Ron didn't want to make things any worse than they already were.

"_I could go see how Felix is doing, he should still be in town… doesn't he work at the Space Science Center?_"

As Ron rinsed the shampoo out of his hair he smiled. This was an idea that he could go with – Felix Renton had always been more of _his_ friend than Kim's. They had known each other as boys and rekindled their relationship later on in high school.

"_Sound's like a plan. I'll go grab Felix, we'll hit the arcade, then hop down to Bueno Nacho for some grub… It'll be like old times._"

Ron stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around himself and walked to his room. At first he started to flip through his drawers for clean clothes but then realized that he had taken pretty much everything that had fit with him when he moved to Upperton. Everything that was left behind was more or less relics from his middle school and early high school days. Sighing to himself a little bit he opened his suitcase and looked for something that wasn't too rumpled. He settled on a pair of black cargo pants and a slightly creased Chinese style silk shirt. The pants were his standard fair, but the shirt had been a present from a certain female ninja.

"_Yori…"_

For a moment Ron considered contacting Yori and telling her what had happened. He wasn't stupid, he knew how the slender martial artist felt for him and he knew that she would be more than eager to comfort him in his loss. The idea was some what attractive – Kim had thought he was cheating on her with Yori and he knew that it wouldn't take very much to make that accusation a reality.

"_Do I like Yori? Yes. Do I love her? As a friend. Could I love her more? Maybe…_"

Ron had to admit that there was a pretty short list of near-perfect women in the world and Yori Mutsamaru was probably on it. She was beautiful, smart, sensitive and above all extremely supportive of Ron. She believed in Ron so totally that often he wondered if she wasn't perhaps a little insane. After all, despite a magical sword, mystical monkey powers and years of secret ninja training, he was still just Ron Stoppable.

Ron just shook his head. Even though he was in a lot of pain he knew that he couldn't quite give up on Kim yet. A huge part of his heart belonged only to her and that was why her infidelity had wounded him so much. He also knew that if he ran into the arms of the beautiful lotus flower there would be no returning; and despite how he felt right now he wasn't ready to completely banish Kimberly Anne Possible from his life.

"_I'll hang out here today, catch up with Felix and then head back to Upperton tomorrow to pick up Rufus. Maybe Kim will be there and I can apologi-_"

No. No, he wouldn't apologize. He had spent the great majority of his life apologizing to the beautiful Ms. Possible for him simply being himself, but this was one time that he was going to stand firm. He felt that if he caved in this one time then it would color his entire future relationship with Kim and above all if they were ever going to get back together then she was going to have to learn both how to be humble and how to trust him.

"_Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything. Except trust her boyfriend._"

Ron sighed. He didn't want to let his thoughts carry him down this path. There was nothing he could do right now so no amount of obsessing over the state of his relationship with Kim was going to change that. Fully clothed now, he picked up his cell phone from the bed. Then he hesitated for a moment and picked up his Ronnunicator, it was still off. It took him a moment but eventually he turned it back on and shoved both devices in the large pockets of his cargo pants. He saw that there were messages from Kim waiting for him, but he ignored it for the time being. First he was going to soothe his soul with a little bit of Zombie Mayhem with an old buddy.

Running down the stairs and out the house, he hopped into his Mustang and took off. He could see the cars in front of the Possible house and noted that Kim's wasn't there. He had thought that maybe she would have chased after him last night, but evidently this wasn't the case.

"_No big. I have stuff to do today._"

Two miles down the road with the top down and a near-busted radio dial, Ron Stoppable was once again prowling down the streets of Middleton Colorado, except this time he was doing it in style.

-

Drew Lipsky, AKA Dr. Drakken, cursed furiously at the schematics before him.

"_Damn it! That nit-wit Possible stole my design! Why are they always such a thorn in my side?_"

"This better be good Dr. D, I canceled my vacation because of this", wise cracked a caustic voice behind him.

"Ah, Shego! No it's not good, it's actually quite _bad_ – but in a good way, if you follow my meaning. Here let me show you", replied Drakken.

He pushed a button on the computer console in front of him and the blue prints that he had been looking at were displayed on a large viewing screen. Shego just stared for a moment, her mouth not moving and her eyes somewhat impassive.

"I'm not a mad scientist, what is this junk?" she eventually said.

"A quantum phase disrupter, based on my own design I must add." Dr. Drakken looked inordinately pleased with himself as he added the last bit.

Shego plopped down in a chair and started to concentrate on the nails of her glove, making small flicking gestures as if she was trying to remove some unseen contaminate. She was ignoring Drakken – again.

Drakken was slightly deflated at his henchwomans antics but he didn't miss a beat as he continued.

"It's a device that is capable of producing prodigious amounts of energy, so much so that it rivals the sun in output. And best of all, it runs on common elements found here on Earth. Why if we had this device we could create the most powerful weapon on the planet…"

This was the point in Drakken's rants that Shego always tuned him out and today was no exception. She knew the drill already; the doctor would go on for a half hour about whatever stupid plan he had this week and eventually her part would boil down to either "Shego steal that thing" or "Shego kidnap that person". This was looking like it would be a case of the former, so Shego blocked out Drakken's spiel until he got to the pertinent part.

"… and so I need you to go to the Middleton Space Science Center and steal the prototype."

Shego rolled her eyes. She had guessed correctly – again.

"Alright, but this is overtime Drew", she deadpanned as she went to leave the room.

Drakken was about to retort something when Shego flipped her head over her shoulder and gave him a "I'll rip off your head if you try to argue with me" look.

It worked.

It wasn't that Shego had actually been planning on going anywhere for her vacation, but still it was the principle of the matter. She knew that if you gave these mad super villain types an inch they'd try to take a mile. It was something she had learned in her previous occupation.

As Shego climbed into the cockpit of her hover plane she wondered if Kim Possible would show up on this job. It was highly likely anyway, being that Middleton was her old stomping grounds. Shego didn't like to admit it but the chance of running into the "Princess" was one of the few reasons why she continued to work for Drakken.

"_I wonder if she'll be alone this time, in fact I haven't seen that buffoon for a couple of months now. I wonder if they split up?_"

It had actually been a nice change of pace for Shego, having Kim Possible all to herself. As much as Shego derided Kim's sidekick as a buffoon, he had the uncanny knack of inadvertently ruining things at the worst possible moment. Shego secretly had decided a long time ago that Ron Stoppable was far more dangerous than he wanted people to know.

It had happened about a year ago on yet another failed take over the world scheme of Drakkens'. Shego had mostly been preoccupied with fighting Possible for the duration of the battle so she wasn't able to actually watch what the sidekick was doing, but somehow he had managed to single handedly take out a dozen of her best henchman as well as destroying Drakken's latest doomsday device. However unlike every single previous time they had fought, he had made a mistake.

He didn't set off the self-destruct button.

It was hours later, long after the Global Justice reconnaissance teams had left the scene, when Shego had crept back into the base. Her curiosity always had a tendency to drive her actions when she was left to her own devices and this time was no exception. Sneaking down the hallways of the now abandoned lair she looked for a machine that might help her figure out what had happened earlier – providing Global Justice hadn't confiscated the contents.

It was with a bit of surprise and a great deal of satisfaction that Shego noticed that no one had yet removed the surveillance tapes from the lair's security system. After fiddling with the controls and different camera views for a few minutes she finally found the information she was looking for, and she was shocked. There in black in white on the computer screen was something that she had _never_ would have expected. It was Ron Stoppable amidst a dozen highly trained henchmen.

And he was kicking their asses.

At first Shego had laughed, not just at the absurdity of what she was seeing, but at the young mans comical actions. He was tripping on his own feet, falling down, rolling away, springing back to his feet, falling on top of his assailants and pretty much making a fool out of himself. Except for one thing of course - he was winning.

Shego rewound the tape and watched it again. Then she did it again. And again. There was something here that she wasn't catching on to, something almost familiar about Stoppable's actions that she was trying to place. Slowly the realization began to dawn on her.

"_Monkey Fist!_"

It was a little bit of a leap of logic, but Shego was sure of it. The seemingly random movements of Stoppable on the screen were _not_ random at all. In fact, they were part of a highly effective martial arts style that only a few people in the world had ever mastered. She noted that she had seen it before, Monty Fiske AKA Monkey Fist, was one of those self-proclaimed masters.

"_It's called the Drunken Monkey… and he's good at it._"

Shego let a small smile creep over her face. The sidekick had a secret that he was hiding from everyone, including the Princess. A small, grudging, respect for the young man started to form in her mind. After all, Shego knew very intimately what it was like to hide your real self behind an act. She had been doing it herself ever since she was a pre-teen, ever since that blasted meteor had hit the tree house belonging to her and her brothers. Ever since she had become the freak she was today.

Secrets had been a big part of her life since that fateful day and it was one of the main reasons why she had become a mercenary in the employ of Drakken. She didn't have to hide herself, she didn't have to hide her bizarre appearance, and she didn't have to pretend to be some simpering normal girl always bossed around by her older brother.

As Shego punched the throttle on her hover plane and took to the sky it never occurred to her that in her attempt to escape the life that had been thrust upon her that she had willingly let herself be trapped in another lie.

Shego was her name. It was how the world knew her. Her visage was familiar across the globe and accepted for what it was - but still it was just another persona that she had constructed for herself. She had a secret and it was the worst kind, the type that you kept from yourself.

-

A/N: Hope people like this so far. I banged out this chapter in two consecutive meals at Dennys! So I suppose mucho thanks are in order for the kind waitresses who ply me with caffeinated beverages for hours on end.

I was wondering if I put the Ron/Kim angst on a little bit too thick, but after rereading the last chapter I think it came off ok. Besides, the break up is still fresh in the story so I don't think it's going to abate any time soon. I really don't like writing angst too much, I prefer humor and saccharine sweet love scenes a lot more, but I'm afraid I am discovering a little talent for drama and angst as well :P

I'd like a little feed back about the pacing of the story if possible. I read a review (sorry name escapes me as I write this) where I was cautioned against making Ron run right into the arms of another woman – and I agree with that. I had not actually intended to make things so surreal by doing something like that. As far as I'm concerned the problems between Ron and Kim aren't really a love thing, I hope I've gotten that across in my story by their inner dialogues. Both of them really do still love each other, but alas there is a huge chasm of trust that lays in between their feelings.

Also how did the Shego vignette go down? I always had this idea in my head that the major similarity between Ron and Shego is that they are two characters that have both outer and inner personalities. After all we know that Shego used to be a super hero, not a villain – so the duality in her personality exists from the start. Ron on the other hand often betrays his inner Ron-ness inadvertently, usually when he's not around Kim. Just something to think about.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review  I like to hear comments from people about any aspect of my stories, it keeps me writing.

QC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Ron Stoppable, Drunken Master

"SHE DID WHAT?" screamed Felix Renton, flecks of beer foam flying from the corners of his mouth.

Ron Stoppable was already lamenting at how this day hadn't turned out how he had planned. Originally he was supposed to pick up his good buddy Felix and take him out to _Bill and Dusters_ for a little bit of Zombie Mayhem and catching up, however it hadn't worked out that way. No sooner than Ron had retrieved his fully charged power card and ordered a beer had he started to spill his guts to his _second_ oldest friend about what his _first_ oldest friend had done.

"Yeah… but I think it was a misunderstanding…" weakly replied Ron.

Felix just blinked at his friend and tried to come up with the right words to say. He didn't want to full out rip into Kim, although he was feeling that way, but at the same time he didn't like the way Ron seemed to be shouldering the lions share of the guilt in the situation. For once he was glad his girlfriend Monique had to work at Club Banana on Saturdays. Mo' was Kim's friend for sure, but Ron had this way about him that made anyone that got to know the guy feel extremely over-protective and Mo' could be a real firecracker when she got upset.

"Ron, man, still…." Felix felt his words trail off. He swirled his beer around in his mug while he pondered how to continue.

"Look Ron, no matter what I'm still _your_ friend. You got that?"

Ron smiled at Felix's display of loyalty, still in the back of his mind he knew that Felix was dating Monique and he didn't want his problems with Kim to spill into their relationship.

"Felix you're a totally badical dude. Just do me a favor and leave the part about Monkey boy out of anything you tell Mo' ok? Someday KP and me might patch things up and… well the less people that know the details the better. Hell I feel bad enough as it is about dropping this bomb on you… I just thought that I'd go insane if I didn't tell _someone_."

Ron leaned back in his chair and let his limbs go limp. He had never realized before how much he relied on Kim to be there for _him_ when he needed someone to talk to. Now that she was the one who had actually _caused_ the problem – well he was just grateful he had Felix.

"So like…" Felix pondered for a moment, "… what are you going to do now? Any plans?"

Ron lazily turned his head to the side and began to speak out of the corner of his mouth in a far away voice.

"No… no plans man. Everything just seems so… unreal, you know? I'm not in classes this semester because I went to Yamanouchi, I don't have a job… not that I really need one. Guess I don't even have a girlfriend anymore too…"

Ron turned his head back to Felix and looked at him right in the eyes.

"And that's another thing. I really _can't_ do anything until I talk to Kim. After all, we live in the same place now… well technically she lives at _my_ place. God that's so like me isn't it? She's banging monkey boy in the apartment that I pay for and I'm the one that leaves… Bonnie Rockwaller was never so right about me, I _am_ a loser."

"Bonnie Rockwaller is a stuck up dyke. Forget her", stated Felix.

"Seriously?" Ron asked.

"Wow man where the hell have you been? Her and Tara, for about two years now." Felix smirked at his friend.

A broad grin broke out on Ron's face.

"Now _that's _an image that will be burned into my mind forever!"

"It gets even better." Felix's grin was wide enough to match his friends.

"Oh really?" Ron's curiosity was peaked.

"Ya really." Felix chuckled at his own nerd joke and then continued, "I was talking to Wade over MSN a few weeks ago and he showed me a _very interesting_ private website Ms. Rockwaller set up…"

Ron choked on his beer, lurid thoughts were coming to his mind.

"Wow, Zombie Mayhem or Internet Porn…. Decisions, decisions."

Both men laughed and then ordered another round.

-

Kim Possible flipped through a ratty issue of Cosmo for about the twentieth time. The flight to Japan was _long_ but at least she was going first class. Wade had called in a couple of favors and got her out on an early morning departure and now several hours later she was flying over the ocean high above the clouds.

She had tried to go back to sleep, at least for a couple of hours, but found that she was too worked up to manage to rest. Not being able to find sleep what she did instead was pack a small duffel bag with a couple changes of clothes and then stare at the Weather Channel on TV for two hours. The bland background music and the constant changing of vistas from around the world had done little to calm her mind. She knew that what she was doing was incredibly stupid, but at the same time she felt absolutely _compelled_ to go.

Other women in her position would have either lived with the consequences of their decision, believing that they were right, or they would have listened to their boyfriends and decided to believe them. Neither option seemed satisfactory to Kim. She knew that she _did_ have the means to find out the truth herself and despite the fact that deep down inside her a part of herself was screaming, "Trust Ron!", she couldn't bring herself to do it.

After all, if she did trust Ron then that meant that she was wrong. Being wrong wasn't something that Kim Possible was very good at and if she _was_ going to be wrong then she wanted to make damn sure that she was. It might have sounded childish to anyone else but to Kim's mind it made perfect sense. She had operated this way her entire life and old habits die hard.

Kim shifted listlessly in her first class seat. She wanted to be comfortable, to catch a nap, but she couldn't seem to manage it. She was a bundle of energy, all nerves and raw emotion. The worst part of it was that she felt that she had absolutely no one to turn to, no one to talk to. Whenever she had felt like her world was coming down around her she had always turned to Ron for comfort and support – she very well couldn't do that now, could she?

"_What can I do? Call Mom? Right, that'll go over well… Hello Mom? It's me Kim. Ron and I broke up because he caught me screwing Josh Mankey in our bed. _"

Kim sighed deeply. She could barely bring herself to acknowledge to her parents that she was sexually active with the man everyone _thought_ she was going to marry. How could she possibly tell them about her infidelity? She already felt like a total slut and she didn't want to risk having to deal with her parents disapproving glares. Not that they could really make her feel any worse than she already did, but it would be at least a confirmation of everything she already thought about herself.

Slowly she reached into the pocket of her leather jacket and wrapped her hand around it. Gently she caressed the velvet smoothness of the exterior of the box and she started to curse herself. She had felt so _sure_ that it wasn't for her, that Ron and that… _girl_, were going to…

She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't help it. It was like a pit bull tearing at the edges of her conscience. She reached up and pressed the call button for the stewardess, if she couldn't sleep then maybe a couple of drinks would help her take the edge off the pain she was feeling. Kim knew it wasn't the right thing to do, but she didn't really care. She was so isolated and alone that she'd take any friend she could find right now, even if it came in a small three ounce bottle.

This decision was the reason why when Wade tried to contact her via Kimmunicator an hour later she didn't respond.

-

Ron swallowed the last gulp of his beer and then slammed his mug down on the table with relish. He thought idly to himself that he must have done _something_ right because his pants started to vibrate.

"_Wait… Pants. Vibrating. Oh snap…_"

Ron quickly dug into his oversized pockets and brought out his Ronunnicator. Felix eyed him warily; he didn't think that in his current state of inebriation Ron was in any state for a mission or especially a call from Kim.

"Ah it's Wade. Gotta take this pal, un momento por favor!" Ron grinned sheepishly.

Felix visibly relaxed.

"_At least it wasn't Kim. I don't think he's anywhere near ready for that right now._"

"What's the sitch Wade?" Ron peered at the device.

"Ron! Wait… where are you man?" asked Wade as he tried to see discern Ron's location by looking at the background of the transmission.

"Oh just kickin' it with my man Felix at Bill and Dusters. Having a few brews, slaughtering a few zombies. Oh by the way man…" Ron's face took on a wolfish grin.

"Bonnie and Tara's website. Spill it dude! I so can't believe you kept that from me you dirty punk."

"Sorry Ron but we don't have time for that right now. Shego is on the move and…" Wade was cut off by Ron.

"Whoa, hold on there Wade. First off, I'm totally drunk. Secondly, I'm on hiat-, er sabat-, er… vacation or something. Thirdly, I quit. Get Kimberly to do it." Ron beamed a little bit, proud of his tirade – it felt good to blow off a little steam.

"Quit? What's going on Ron?" asked Wade. He was visibly nervous that something he had suspected was going on had finally been brought out into the open.

"I'll tell ya what Wade, since you've been _so honest_ with me and I know you'd never try and do something like say, invade my privacy with a _spy satellite_, I'll level with you. I broke up with Kim. Therefore I am no longer her boyfriend or her partner. Try Josh Mankey instead, he can have her!"

Wade was getting flustered and upset. He knew that when Kim had asked him to spy on Ron with the eye in the sky that something like this was going to happen, but he wasn't sure exactly where it was going to place him. He was friends with both of them, or at least he liked to think so. Ron's last bit, about Josh Mankey, caused him to flinch. Kim hadn't been very discrete, going so far as to leave her Kimmunicator on while she was with Josh and Wade had caught more than an eyeful on one occasion.

"Look Ron, I'm really sorry about Mankey man, I don't even want to pretend to know what's going on…"

Ron's goofy grin was replaced by a wicked glare.

"Wait… you knew? You knew about Mankey? What the hell? What didn't you tell me about it? You sonofa- "

Ron's fist was clenching his Ronnunicator so tightly that the plastic casing was starting to bend and crack. To him, this was the last straw – to find out that out of their little "team", he was literally the last person to know. He wondered how many other people knew and if they were laughing at him right now.

"RON!" screamed Wade, he didn't have time for this right now.

"Look Ron, it's a real emergency. Shego's raiding the Space Science Center and…"

"What the hell do I care, she can make off with whatever damn thing she wants. What part of 'I quit' don't you understand?" Ron was getting more livid by the second.

"The Tweebs Ron. Jim and Tim are there."

Ron paused for a minute. As mad as he was at Wade and Kim right now, he couldn't abandon the twins. They were like little brothers to him and they trusted Ron completely.

"Ron? I've tried to contact Kim but I can't get a hold of her right now…" Wade left off the part that the reason why was because she was currently on a plane heading for Japan. He was already way too involved in their messy break-up than he wanted to be.

"I'll do it. But I'm telling you Wade, this is the _absolute_ last time."

To emphasize his point Ron slammed his Ronnunicator down on the wooden bar table, shattering it into a dozen pieces. Then he grabbed his unfinished beer and downed it in a huge gulp.

"Felix buddy, I'm afraid you're going to have to drive. You going to finish that one?" Ron asked as he motioned towards Felix's beer.

"Ron I don't think you're in any shape to fight anyone right now. Don't you think you've had way too many beers?"

Ron reached over and snatched Felix's unfinished beer and downed it similarly to the first one.

"That's what you would think, wouldn't it? I'll let you in on a little secret…" Ron rubbed the sleeve of his coat across his mouth as he and Felix started to depart from the entertainment center.

"You see… the Ron-man is a magical dude. Only I can turn a drunken stupor into totally badical monkey kung-fu. You'll just have to see it to believe it."

Felix looked dubiously at his friend. He felt for sure that Ron was in for a world of hurt. Sliding behind the wheel of his custom van he was only thinking about how he was going to explain this to Ron's parents when he was eventually wound up in the hospital.

Fifteen minutes later Felix was sitting in the vaulted research laboratory of his workplace and having a completely different thought.

"_Holy shit, Monkey kung-fu is bad ass!_"

Ron Stoppable, completely free of common sense and inhibition by a devastating break-up with his girlfriend and way more alcohol than a sane man should consume on an empty stomach, was flailing his way through a combined melee of synthodrones and monkey ninjas like a force of nature. His silk shirt was torn and ripped in many places and his body reeked of alcohol and perspiration, but for the first time since his world had collapsed just the night before he was in his element.

And he was enjoying it immensely.

"STOPPABLE!" screamed a raspy female voice that could only belong to the sultry super villain Shego.

Ron fell over to his left, his arms flailing out and landing two devastating blows to a pair of monkey ninjas. A drone tried to come up behind him but in the apparent act of clumsily righting himself he swept the henchman from his feet.

Shego smiled as she watched Ron's seemingly drunken gait. If she didn't know better she would have assumed that he actually _was _drunk. She had been holding back from entering the battle herself for two main reasons – she enjoyed watching Stoppable thrash his way through the arrayed forces, it was almost beautiful in a strange way; and she had to make sure that she kept Monkey Fist away from the device she was supposed to be stealing.

She hadn't planned on running into the supposed "Monkey Master", but she was taking this opportunity to try and observe both him and Stoppable fighting. There was something curious about the two men that she couldn't place. Their fighting styles were so incredibly similar, but while Fiske had many years of training on the younger man he was obviously the inferior. Shego couldn't decide if this was because Stoppable was merely talented, or if there was something more behind it. She really wanted to know.

As luck would have it, the man she was so interested in was right before her.

"Alright Shego, hand over the flux capacitor and I'll go easy on you." Ron said with a goofy grin on his face.

"Quantum phase disrupter. I don't even listen to Drakken and I know what it's called. You're thinking of that stupid movie." She retorted as she went in for a low sweeping kick.

Ron easily avoided it with a forward handspring that lifted his feet up in the air, taking out two monkey ninja's that had decided to take the opportunity to get their hands on him.

"Ok whatever, quantum thingie stuff. Hand it over!"

Ron stumbled forward towards Shego in an awkward looking somersault that brought him up low and poised to strike – however at the last moment his fist swung out and behind him, striking a very perturbed Monkey Fist in the jaw.

"_It was a ruse. He wasn't actually going for me but countering Fiske. Interesting._"

Shego took the momentary distraction that Monkey Fist provided to size up her opponent again. Stoppable was better, much better, than she had originally assumed. Her last encounter with the man had been months ago, but she felt that today something was definitely different. It wasn't that he could have become that much more skilled in the short period of time in between their fights, it was something else – almost like…

She sniffed the air.

"You're drunk!" she gasped.

"Only a lot." He replied in a chipper voice.

The situation was getting more and more interesting. Shego tucked the device under her left arm and fired up the plasma aura on her right fist. She launched a devastating overhand strike at Ron's head intended to bash him senseless.

She missed.

"_Should have been expecting that. I can't really get into it with Stoppable right now so long as I have this device…_"

She thought for a moment and then Shego did something very unexpected. Monkey Fist had recovered from Ron's earlier blow and was coming in high to his right. Shego hefted the heavy metal canister in both arms and threw it right at his face. To his credit Monkey Fist did manage to get both hands around it, but not in time to stop it from impacting his nose with a sickening crunch.

"Oh great, I am so not playing monkey in the middle with you guys. I mean, c'mon he's actually a monkey. That's just sick-wrong." Ron was pondering how to solve this situation but Shego didn't give him a lot of time to think as she started in on him with a flurry of plasma powered strikes.

Ron just closed his eyes and decided not to deal with the problem. Mystical Monkey Mojo worked best that way.

"_I'm already getting tired, there isn't any way I can take out both Shego and Monkey Fist and all those henchmen at the same time. I need to come up with a plan, something completely off the wall..."_

Shego was getting seriously perturbed. She was launching her best all out offensive moves at Stoppable, yet he was avoiding every one – and to top it all off he had his eyes closed!

"_Incredible! If only that idiot Fiske wasn't here to screw everything up._"

Thinking of Monkey Fist made Shego pan her vision around the laboratory until she found him. He had retrieved the phase disrupter and was starting to climb his way out of the shattered ceiling.

"Not so fast monkey boy!" screamed Shego as she broke off her assault on Ron and swiveled to face the now retreating Monkey Fist. She brought both her arms up and fired a volley of plasma blasts into the weakened roof which promptly caused it to break apart and fall – a large segment of it coming down towards three young men who were hiding behind a lab table.

Ron's eyes instantly opened, although he wished that they hadn't. Felix, Jim and Tim were about to be crushed by a several ton piece of concrete and he was too far away to do anything about it. Knowing it was futile anyway he propelled himself past two synthodrones and a distracted Shego and made his way towards his friends, praying that a miracle would happen.

There were no miracles.

Just quick thinking on the part of a young man who's reflexes had been honed by countless hours of Zombie Mayhem. With a hard lean on his chair's controller, Felix Renton backed up almost literally on top of the two Possible boys, sending them sprawling out of the way. He too almost made it to safety but unfortunately was a couple of feet short, the edge of the ceiling slamming into his chair and his already dead legs.

For possibly the first time in his life Felix Renton was grateful for his deadened nerves.

"Felix!" screamed Ron as he struggled to move the impossible weight off his friend.

"R-R-Ron… it's ok, I swear buddy I didn't feel a thing." Felix halfheartedly grinned at his friend.

Ron wasn't buying it, he knew that even if Felix's legs didn't register the pain that the damage that had been inflicted was very real. Blood loss alone could kill the brave man if he didn't get medical attention. He continued to struggle with the chunk of concrete.

"Ron, Ron… Look man the cops and fire department are on the way. Just make sure it's safe for them to come and get me, ok?" Felix was using his head to gesture towards the ongoing melee between the two super villains.

Ron ceased his struggle and nodded at his friend. Felix was right, there was no way he was going to free him and no way that he was going to be able to provide the medical attention that he needed. The only people who could do that were the emergency services personnel that were on their way, and they could only do their job if they didn't have to worry about super villains and monkey ninjas. With that thought on his mind, Ron leapt back into the fray with a renewed urgency that caught the attention of Fist and Shego.

"Stoppable!" shouted Monkey Fist as he kicked Shego out of his way. He didn't have time to waste on the green villainess, especially not when his mortal enemy was quickly approaching.

"Hand over the quantum thingamajig and I promise I'll only break a few bones!" shouted Ron as he tossed various henchmen out of his way with supernatural ease.

Monkey Fist's eyes went wide.

"_He's using it! It should be mine, MINE!_"

Monkey Fist's face was a strange contortion of anger and fear. Anger that Ron Stoppable, sidekick and buffoon, controlled the mystical power that Fist felt was his and fear at knowing that there was no way he was currently prepared to battle another Monkey Master.

"You can't be serious?" drolled Shego as she closed in on Monkey Fist's flank.

Ron punched an errant monkey ninja into oblivion and then pointed at his own head.

"Note: Serious face!"

Then he launched himself into an all out attack against the purported Monkey Master.

Monkey Fist had little time to react, he was experiencing the same problem that Shego had earlier when she was battling Ron – namely the large cylinder in his arms was hampering his ability to launch any effective strikes at the elusive young man. Planting his feet in the ground he threw out a desperate attack, more in an effort to buy himself some time than to defeat Stoppable. He wasn't expecting it to connect, so he was surprised that it did. Then he realized the reason why.

"_His stance… it changed, Wait… Stone Monkey!_"

Lord Montgomery Fiske barely had enough time for that last thought to register in his mind before he found himself taking the beating of his life. Ron was now inside the arc of Fiske's own blows and for every attack that Fiske landed on Stoppable, another one was returned with more devastating force than he thought possible. That was the strength of the Stone Monkey form of kung-fu. Unlike the acrobatic leaps and tumbles of Drunken Monkey, Stone Monkey capitalized on it's practitioners ability to take a punishment and then dish it out ten-fold. Fiske's blows were landing, but they were landing in the wrong spots, causing minimal damage to Ron. Ron's strikes on the other hand were devastating overhead blows that rained down on Monkey Fist's head and shoulders.

A black-lipped smile curled on the face of another villain as she too entered the fray.

"_Push the sidekick a little bit and he shows you something good…_"

Shego had been enjoying the martial arts exhibit put on by the two men but she felt that it was time to bring things to a close. If it dragged on any longer then the cops, or worse, Global Justice, would show up. For as much fun as she was having, Shego didn't relish the thought of being hounded by GJ helicopters for hours. She made her move.

Leaping into the fray, her arms blazing with green energy, she struck out at Monkey Fist in an effort to finish him off. In her mind, she thought it a worthwhile chance to disable the purported Monkey Master and then retrieve the canister he was holding. For his own part, Fist was still reeling under the barrage of blows from Ron, but his trained martial arts senses allowed him to perceive the incoming attack. Running out of options he did the one thing that he shouldn't have done.

He tried to block with the quantum phase disrupter.

What happened next would take scientists years to understand. The quantum phase disrupter was a device that could provide huge amount of energy, but in order to do so it needed a catalyst. Few things on the planet could have served as that catalyst and most of them were rare elements that had to be created in a laboratory. However, unbeknownst to anyone at the time, a certain very rare cosmic energy could also start the chain reaction.

Shego's plasma infused fist swung out in a wide arc and met contact with the canister. There was a loud popping sound as the rare elements inside came to life at her touch.

Felix Renton was still conscious, but just barely. He heard the familiar sound of the phase disrupter firing to life and then noted in a detached voice that the device had never been activated outside of it's protective shielding before.

"RON! GET OUT OF THERE!" he screamed once his clouded mind started to digest what was going on.

It was too late. He watched with horror as he good friend Ron Stoppable and two nefarious super villains were blasted into their quantum components.

There was another popping sound and then a loud clattering of metal against tile as the phase disrupter fell to the ground. The synthodrones and monkey ninja's were still fighting, but without any sort of direction or order, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their masters had just been blasted into their smallest quantum components. Off in the distance sirens could be heard and above head Felix made out the approaching sound of helicopters.

"Tim…" Felix croaked out, he was rapidly starting to lose consciousness.

"Call your Dad… tell him… there's been a lab accident."

With those final words Felix Renton collapsed in his chair and the two Possible boys were overcome with grief, wondering if perhaps they had lost two of their best friends that day.

-

Over a hundred miles away from the lab, the worlds last remaining possessor of Mystical Monkey Power stood upright in his bed. The last few weeks had been very confusing for him and filled with more than a little heartbreak and sadness, but he wasn't prepared for the emotions that now assaulted him. It was if somehow he had just had a huge part of his soul ripped out of his being.

Clutching his head in tiny paws, he tried to get control of his shuddering body. Eventually after a few minutes the pain abated. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he had an inkling of what had happened. Somewhere out there his best friend in the entire world had just died.

Or maybe not.

There was a tiny tingling sensation in the back of his mind, like a faint whisper rolling its way through his consciousness. That which was gone just moments before was back and he tentatively reached out to embrace the familiar sensation. It was small and almost distant, as if the presence was very, very far away. However it was there and because of that he knew what he had to do.

Rufus was going to save his friend.

-

A/N: Hey guys, I had more of this story to write down before it escaped me completely so be happy and rejoice. Thanks for all the great reviews, they keep me inspired to keep writing. Also, sorry there was no Kim and Yori showdown in this chapter, but as you can see I had more of the story to get out of the way before _that_ event can happen. Hate to say it, but Kim isn't really a major character in this fanfiction and thus she isn't going to be getting much more than a side story. This is the Ron-man's show after all!

Btw did you guys think I had forgot about Rufus? Heck no! Everyone's favorite naked mole rat has a big part in this story, but you'll just have to wait for his grande sized entrance that I am thinking about dubbing, "Enter: The Naked Mole Rat."

Anyway, the next chapter should be hella fun. We'll find out what happened to Ron, Shego and Monkey Fist (it's not a coincidence that those three are missing, now is it? This is after all a RONGO about Ultimate Monkey Masters!) and we'll finally get to see the confrontation between Yori and Kim as Kim arrives in Japan. Also, is anyone else not surprised with the news about Bonnie and Tara? I always thought there was something going on between those two…No seriously, that was just my way of writing them out of the story. The main characters from the KP universe that are going to be major players have actually already been introduced, so don't expect too many surprises on that front.

Right now the only thing I am struggling with in this story is trying to write Ron correctly. Unfortunately (or fortunately I guess for Ron?) we never get to see how he reacts to such a terrible situation like the one he's experienced in this fanfiction, so I don't have anthing to base his actions off. What we get instead is my interpretation of a real nice guy that's finally snapped after experiencing the biggest betrayal of his life.

Oh and since it's been several years, he's actually quite the monkey-fu master as people have probably noticed!

Finally, about the Rongo elements of this story – It's going to take a while to develop. I love this pairing but it's a hard one to write effectively because they are on almost two diametric sides. My idea is to place them in a situation where they are at least, temporarily, on the same side and then let it go from there.

Thanks again for reading, especially my huge author notes! Once again PLEASE review my stories, they help a lot and definitely shape the way I put things down.

QC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Bedlam

The pathetic wretch of a woman huddled in the corner of the cold stone room, clutching the tattered rags she wore that passed for clothing. The jeers and screams from the other inhabitants of her prison were all but drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat as she buried her head in her arms. If anyone would ask her she would swear up and down that this was _not her life_. She would gladly look anyone in the eye and tell him or her that no, she was not crazy and yes, she didn't belong here. She had always been a good actress anyway, able to say and do things that she didn't believe. And that was the crux of the problem – she didn't believe her own memories.

It had started the first night she was brought to the asylum. It had been a typical cold and raining night with thunder and lightning right out of a trashy horror novel. She remembered being strapped to a gurney and having her arms immobilized. She remembered getting an injection in her arm and then tossed into a large holding cell. She remembered the leers of the men in that cell as they approached her drugged body.

The first man was a balding fellow with a skinny back and an even skinnier neck. He had a cockeyed grin that looked more demented than anything she had ever seen before. Even though her mind was clouded with drugs and her limbs felt heavy, she knew that all she had to do was call upon her power and she would be safe – after all no one had ever touched her without her permission in her entire life. She wasn't about to let that change now.

Two others joined the first man and they approached her warily as if they were sizing her up like a piece of meat. The light from outside was faint but she could see the faces of these threatening figures as they traveled across the room and she could detect the madness in their eyes. She idly wondered where they had thrown her – this didn't look like any jail that she had ever seen before and she had seen more than her fair share in the last nine years. Despite the drugs that were coursing through her blood she managed to get herself into a full sitting position with her back propped against the corner of the room. She tried to shake her head but found it only made her dizzy and when she went to move her arms she found they didn't want to respond right away.

That was ok, because she had _it. _She would be safe.

The shuffling from the men had stopped and this brought her attention back to the situation at hand. She knew she was weak, she understood she was drugged, but she also knew that once she showed these scum what she could do that they'd quickly learn their places and go back to harassing someone else. The first man had stepped forward, full into the view of the moonlight that was filtering through the single barred window. He was drooling, his eyes wandering all over her body as he exposed and fondled himself.

She felt her stomach lurch.

"_Just a little closer you pervert and I'll blast your little friend right off._"

It took a great deal of effort, but she had managed to get one of her hands level with her body and pointing in the direction of the man that was pleasuring himself in front of her. With a snarl of pure hatred she growled and willed the power to fly from her hand and kill the man.

Nothing happened.

She immediately tried again, wondering if perhaps the drugs were making her more sluggish than she felt and again she was met with nothing. No light, no heat, no familiar flush of power flowing through her arms. Just the cold damp air of her prison as it crept across her flesh. Her feelings of hatred quickly turned into ones of fear.

Within moments the man and his accomplices were upon her, pawing at her body and ripping at her tattered clothes. She tried to struggle, tried to beat them with more mundane means, but she was tired, weak from hunger and heavily sedated. She never had a chance. The panic in her eyes seemed to urge the men forward with more abandon, almost as if they took a perverse pleasure in watching her terror stricken face and listening to her pathetic whimpers. She felt something push past her lips and instantly a gamey and rancid taste registered in her mouth. In one last act of defiance she did the only thing she was still capable of and bit down hard with all her remaining strength. She was rewarded with the coppery taste of blood and a murderous scream from her assailant.

Fists flew out and met her face over and over again. Even if drugs and hunger hadn't already weaken her she would have been helpless to defend herself from their onslaught due to her arms and legs being held down. She was almost grateful for the beating because it was the final thing that sent her spiraling towards the darkness and unconsciousness. At least if she was unconscious, she wouldn't have to suffer the indignities that were being visited upon her body.

Several hours later she woke up from her comatose state and tried to move her battered body. The first thing that she noticed was that she was now nude – the cold damp air of her prison felt chill across her skin. It was embarrassing, but it was a minor issue compared to what had happened to her and what would probably happen again if she didn't figure out a way to escape. The second thing she found was that whatever drug her captors had given her the night before had worked its way out of her system – she wasn't as alert as normal but most of that could be attributed to the general state of her health and the nightmare she had lived through. It took a great deal of effort for her to gain her feet. She had to prop herself up against the grimy wall with a free hand while her other arm clutched helplessly at her abdomen. Even though she was unconscious for most of the rape, she still remembered bits and pieces of what had been done to her and the piercing agony she experienced from her torn flesh was a constant reminder.

Slowly she steadied herself. She looked at her hand and tried to use her power, but it wouldn't come and she panicked again. Evidently it wasn't the drugs that had kept her from using her abilities the night before. She was lost in a state of confusion, wondering about where she was and how she had gotten there when she saw the man approach her again.

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to – the leering grin on his face said it all. Evidently he had just woken up himself because like most men he was ready to go in the morning. She centered herself and slowed her breathing, she could handle this even without her powers, she just had to push past the pain and the weakness and find that fire that burned inside her. As the man got closer and reached his hand out for her she delved deep inside herself and she found it.

He was dead in seven seconds.

His neck hung off his body at an odd angle and she dropped his now lifeless corpse on the ground. The other men who had been her assailants last night were now awake from the death cry of the man she had just killed. Quickly they rushed at her with equal amounts of murder and lust in their eyes. She swung out with her leg in a high arc, not even caring that she was exposing herself to the entire room of captives. Her heel found its mark and sent a man careening into a wall with a caved-in face. Another man had stepped up, trying to sneak in around her while she was kicking the first man, but she took him down with a solid right cross to his throat, shattering his windpipe.

The remaining men were backing away, circling her and biding their time. What had been so easy for them last night when she had been drugged was now something that looked far too dangerous for them to try again. Still they were not quite yet willing to give up their exotic play-toy so they waited for a chance to take her down. She was tired and weak from hunger, so it didn't take nearly as long as she would have liked for them to find a weak spot in her defense.

The first man that rushed her went in for a full body tackle, but she was still agile enough even with sore hips and legs to dash to the side. He smacked into the stone wall with a sickening thud and fell lifeless. She was just about to round back upon her attackers when the first blow hit her square in the back. She hadn't really made a mistake; she just had forgotten to compensate for her injuries and how they would slow down her reaction time. She tried to spin around and fight back but the blow had knocked the wind out of her and she found her attacks flying off their mark. It didn't take them long to subdue her and once again she found herself naked and pinned to the floor. She gritted her teeth and waited for the blows that would let her escape the humiliating experience by slipping into unconsciousness.

They never came.

It was three hours later when the last of the men was spent and her body had long since stopped responding to her mind when she finally drifted off to the welcoming blackness. If anyone had ever told her that her life would end up like this, that something like this would happen to _her_, she would have laughed in his or her face and then probably blasted them for good measure. No one could get away with humiliating and hurting her like this – it would be preposterous. She had stood up to super villains, she had laughed in the face of world powers, she had lived her life how she had wanted to and on her own terms.

She was Shego and she was feared.

When she woke up, this time mercifully alone, she clutched her legs to her naked body and tried to soothe herself by repeating that mantra over and over again. "_I am Shego_" What used to sound so powerful to her sounded weak and pathetic as she uttered it into the empty darkness of her cell. She held her hand out in front of her face and willed it to be shrouded with energy but nothing came – she brought her face close to the stone wall, wanting to see the pale green aura of her body reflecting against it's cold surface, but saw nothing.

It was gone.

The power that she had come to rely upon was gone. The power that had thrust itself upon her life and turned her into a walking freak had simply disappeared. "_The power! The power!"_ she screamed in her mind. "_What does this mean?_" She brought her hands over her stomach and panic welled up in her face. She remembered with acute clarity how when she was just a young girl of thirteen she had visited her family doctor and gotten some bad news. In the words of that esteemed medical professional, she inwardly snorted at the word _professional_; the meteor that had granted her powers had also "scrambled her eggs". Such a quaint vision in the head of a teenage girl who had never wanted anything other than to grow up, get married and have two kids. Now however, even though it seemed that her cosmic powers had abandoned her, she hoped that the damage to her reproductive system was permanent – the alternative was something she didn't want to face.

In the morning a man came to visit her. He was a strange man with a strange mustache who hid his body behind the heavy door to her cell. The only part of him that she could see was his face and that was from behind an iron barred window in her door.

"Hello Miss can you talk?" the man said in a nasally voice.

Shego just looked at him and barked, "Of course I can talk! Let me out of this here now or you're going to be in huge trouble!" She wasn't one to make idle threats, but it was all she had.

"Now, now, please calm down. I'm afraid we'll have to keep you confined here for the time being, you're quite violent… and you did kill two patients last night. I think you'll be quite alright where you are." His eyes were darting across Shego's body, she couldn't tell if he was getting himself off at her nakedness or if he was inspecting her to confirm what had happened.

"You bastard!" she leapt across the room and threw her nude body into the heavy door. "Do you know what they did to me?" she slammed her fists into the door, but there wasn't much force there. "Do you know…" her voice trailed off as she collapsed to the floor, the adrenaline that had fueled her initial outburst had rapidly seceded once it became apparent her body was too weak to carry on.

The man behind the door didn't respond to her cries. He didn't say anything when she broke down and sobbed on the floor. He did however cast one last look upon her body with eyes that said something akin to "_Sorry, It was an accident_" and then he closed the tiny opening in the cell door. Shego was sure she could hear his receding steps over the din of screaming and wailing patients….

"_Patients? He called them patients… That look on their faces, the screams in the halls…_"

Another wail pierced the air. Shego could viscerally feel the madness in that howl of agony and almost instantly she knew the answer to where she was.

"_I'm in an insane asylum. These people… they're all mad! But I'm not…_"

She looked down at her hand, the hand that she was expecting green fire to explode from.

"… _not crazy? Am I?_"

And that was the first time she began to doubt her own memories.

In the present now, months later, her situation had not improved at all. She was still without any cosmic powers, she was still trapped in a cold stone room and she was getting weaker as the days passed her by. She didn't have warm enough clothes to wear, she didn't have enough food to eat and what she had been given to eat was often rotted or putrid. She couldn't even get enough sleep because if you stayed still too long then the rats would decide they could start to take bites out of you. She didn't know what would give out first, her sanity or her body. It almost seemed to be a macabre race between her madness and the grim reaper where the prize on the end was liberation from this painful reality.

She was so lost in thoughts of madness and death that she was only dimly aware of the sound of her cell door opening. It was not the noise, but the _light_ that eventually caught her attention. She had spent so many weeks trapped alone in the darkness that even the flickering candles from the lanterns the men carried felt like the warmth of sunshine across her skin.

"Are you sure about this Master North? This woman is incredibly dangerous, when she was first admitted she killed two fellow patients…"

Shego heard the nasally whine of her jailor like a buzzing in her head. She wanted to say something but she was far too weak to make the effort, she had after all recently decided to give herself over to death as a way of escaping her fate. What would be the point of arguing her sanity when all it ever got her was drugged or shocked or worse…

"It's quite alright Doctor Winslow, I'm sure I'll be more than capable of handling her."

She looked up and tried to make out the man that was talking to Winslow, but her eyes were ill accustomed to seeing in any sort of light after her long weeks of captivity. There was something about his voice that was familiar, although she could not place it. The man reached out a big hand towards her and she shied away, she knew all too well what men did to women that were too weak to fight back and as much as she hated to admit it she was terrified.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," the man said in a reassuring tone. "Let's get you covered up and out of here."

The man reached up to his shoulder and took off his huge great cape, it was one of the kinds that you would see in a period drama on the television, and within moments he had wrapped it around Shego's partially nude body. It was huge on her, the man himself was only a little taller than she was but his frame was heavy and muscled. She paused for a moment and then realized that the cape was still warm with his body heat. It was the first warmth she had experienced in months.

With a soft grunt the man lifted her from the floor and into his arms. She didn't try to resist, she was still scared of what might happen to her but there was something familiar about the man that had started to put her at ease. From her place in his arms she tried to examine his face but she couldn't make out much in the darkness. He had short hair, with bangs that hung messily in front of his eyes and huge side burns that met with a scraggly beard that clung to his chin. She didn't recognize him at all.

"Jensen!" the man called out ahead of him, "Bring the carriage around and make sure the heater is burning." He paused for a moment in the threshold of the cell, "And keep that flask you have under the bench ready, it looks like the nights going get much colder before we get home."

"Master North…" interrupted the weasel-like doctor, "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

The man locked his gaze upon Winslow and spoke, "Yes I am. And I shall remind you Winslow this is a private _family_ matter. I am sure you've been compensated enough to guarantee your discretion in this, have you not?" The last part was said in such a low throaty tone that it was almost a growl and the implied threat was not lost on Dr. Winslow.

"Ah… of course, yes sir! You've been most generous!" Winslow let loose a tiny sigh. His plans of trying to extort a little extra gilt from Master Timothy North seemed to be falling down around his ears.

"Very well then. I shan't say I hope we meet again, because I don't!"

And with that, millionaire industrialist and eccentric inventor Timothy North walked down the halls of the Bethlehem Royal Hospital and into the cold winter night of Moorfields on the outskirts of London. It was unfortunate that despite all his fantastic wealth that there was very little he could do to actually help the inhabitants of the hospital that was most commonly referred to as _Bedlam_ – time and understanding would have to carry most of that burden. He looked down at the tiny charge in his arms; months of living in that hellish environment had obviously taken their toll upon her. Despite her gaunt appearance and the dirt and stench that clung to her body he could tell that she was still beautiful. He wondered what kind of treatment she had suffered to turn her into this semi-catatonic shell of a person.

"_Maybe I can do something after all. I own some property at St. Georges Field out in Lambeth. I could commission a new hospital, fire the staff, hire some people more interested in treating patients than running a circus. What was the name of that architect I met? Smirke? Not the older brother Robert, but the younger one… Sidney._"

Jensen held the door of his carriage open and he carefully placed the semi-awake woman down on a long bench close to the glowing coals of the metal brazier that was firmly bolted to the floor. It was a dangerous contraption to be sure, but the cold winter nights left little choice in the matter and he had foolishly forgotten to bring any extra clothes. The woman was obviously sick, probably with pneumonia or worse and he knew that even moving her this way was a dangerous prospect.

"Jensen, pass me that flask and lets get a move on it. Molly probably has a hot pie waiting for both of us on a night like this," he said with a grin, his American accent making the driver smile in amusement.

He liked Jensen, he was a young man now but when he had first found him he was a youth with a bad attitude, no prospects and a willingness to throw his future away on the stupidest things – like trying to rob one of London's most famous businessmen. It was much to Jensen's chagrin that he discovered exactly _why_ one of the cities wealthiest men traveled everywhere without a bodyguard and it took weeks for the bruises from the thrashing he had received to heal. That was the first shock he had received that night, that the weak looking aristocrat was a deadly fighter. The second shock was that he offered him a job.

As Jensen climbed onto his bench and started the carriage in motion he shook his head a little bit at the memory. He was still grateful and would probably be eternally so, for the way his life had turned around, but he couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps his employer was a little daft. But then again, maybe you _had to be_ daft if you were to take the industrial world by storm.

"How's the miss, pardon me, Master North? Road bumpy enough?" he called back to the carriage proper.

North stuck his head out of the window and shouted back, "If you could please hit a few more loose cobbles I'd be eternally grateful. She's doing fine, but will do better once we return to the manor, please and thank you."

North smiled to himself, for some reason he could already see his luck turning around.

"_Yes, things will go much better this time around. I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it but it does look like I managed to get here in time. Maybe a little late…_"

He looked down at the shattered body of the woman in his carriage. She had finally drifted off to unconsciousness.

"_Don't get down on yourself, China was unavoidable. Its one of the few things I'm sure about. _"

North had taken the flask that he had retrieved from Jensen and tipped the woman's head a little bit so that he could pour a bit of the contents down her throat. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would help keep her warm until they could arrive at their destination. Laying her down again he made sure that she was completely wrapped in his cloak before he turned the flask to himself and took a large gulp. It burned like fire but it warmed his belly and took the edge off his nervousness. Things were in a very delicate stage and one false move could mean the ruination of all his plotting. He had to stay calm and pray that she'd be able to trust him – it was the only way.

-

Kim Possible wiped the sweat from her brow and continued up the winding path towards the ancient ninja stronghold of Yamanouchi. She had found out, much to her disappointment, that there were no real roads that went back and forth between the remote retreat and the more modern township that rested at the foot of the great mountain.

"_Maybe I should have asked Wade for a helicopter, or even better yet, maybe I shouldn't have tried to drink first class dry._"

It was a sad thought but a true one. She had gone way overboard on her drinking on the plane ride over here, in fact she had been cut off twice. Once before they had crossed the International Date Line and once more as they were approaching Tokyo International. Now that she was several hours out of the plane she was feeling hung-over and stupid.

"_When did I start using alcohol to deal with my problems?_"

She knew the answer and she didn't like it. It had happened the first time she had decided to sleep with Josh Mankey. She was in so much pain and so angry that she had wanted to do it just to hurt Ron but she found that every time Mankey had made a pass at her she wanted to crawl away and hide under a piece of furniture. She hated herself and she hated how weak Ron Stoppable had made her. He was off across the world gallivanting around with another woman and Kim Possible had it so bad for him that she couldn't bring herself complete her tête-à-tête. It was the first time that the girl who could do anything had turned to the bottle to make her maxim come true.

"_If I had known that revenge would feel so bad, would I have still done it?_"

She didn't have an answer for that question. She knew that she was an obsessive person; it was part of her super Type-A personality. She also knew that she had a temper that could match her fiery hair. In a lot of ways Ron Stoppable was the absolute polar opposite of Kim Possible and that was probably why he was so good for her. Or at least _had_ been good for her, before she had suspected his training trips were actually romantic getaways. Even now, just mere yards away from her destination, she was still grappling with what she had done and trying to come up with answers as to why she had listened to her fears instead of her heart.

Was she really that self-conscious? Did she really care that much about what people thought of her? After all, was it her heart that Ron had hurt or was it her ego? She bitterly admitted that the idea of a tabloid reporter finding out that Kim Possible's boyfriend was leaving her for another woman had really been one of the major motivators behind her actions. Three years out of high school and Bonnie Rockwaller's "Food Chain" was still wreaking havoc with her mind. She had a terrifying thought that maybe she would never truly escape it.

Looking up, Kim realized that her footsteps had finally brought her to her destination. The ancient façade of the Yamanouchi School stood before her and it looked impressive with its stone walls and massive closed gate. She looked around for a moment, wondering how she would contact anyone to let them know she was outside and then realized that this was probably one of the few places in the world where people just simply did not show up unexpected. Her welcome was unlikely to be warm, but she did hope that she could at least find the one person she had come across the world to speak to.

"Possible-san."

Kim stepped backwards in shock. She hadn't noticed that the young woman had concealed herself in the darkening shadows of the setting sun. She looked almost like a ghost or some other supernatural creature as she strode out from the shadowy recess of the school's doors and approached Kim, her feet not making any noise.

"Possible-san," she called again, "Why are you here?"

Kim thought she could detect a note of something other than curiosity in the young woman's voice, but her strangely accented English made it hard to tell for sure.

"Yori." She finally spoke.

The two women sized each other up in the diminishing sunlight as they stood face to face. Kim had expected, actually _hoped_ that she could have this confrontation with the young Japanese woman, but she wasn't prepared to be thrust into the situation just moments after arriving. It was almost as if she had been expecting her.

"Possible-san. I mean no disrespect, but visitors are not allowed here unannounced. Please tell me why you have come…" she hesitated for a moment and then continued in a less steady voice, "Is… is Ron-kun ok?"

Kim's eye twitched a little bit. "_Ron-kun is it? What happened to Stoppable-san?_" She wanted to bark at the slender woman, but she had resolved to take this slow so she spent a long moment cooling her anger.

"I need to talk to you Yori. It's about Ron." Kim stated this as flatly as she could, she didn't want her voice to betray the emotions she was feeling.

Yori seemed to ponder something for a moment and then she nodded her head. "Come inside, I have duties to attend to but we shall speak after dinner. I shall meet you in the garden. A room has already been prepared for you."

Kim looked at Yori with apprehension on her face and then spoke, "Wait, how did you know I was coming?" She was secretly worrying that perhaps Yori was a little bit more prepared for this conversation than Kim would have liked and the implications of that made her heart ache.

"I did not know. Sensei told us at the morning meal to expect a guest. I was surprised it was you."

With this statement Yori turned her back on Kim and strode through the now open gates of Yamanouchi. Kim stood there for a moment and then decided to follow her. She wasn't sure exactly _what_ Master Sensei knew, but she was hoping that his seemingly supernatural knowledge wasn't as far reaching as it seemed. She would have a hard time facing the man if she felt he knew about her relationship problems with Ron.

Yori led Kim to one of the main buildings of the compound and then they parted ways, Kim being left in the hands of a younger female student that showed her to the room that had been set aside for her. It was small, but obviously larger than the ones the students lived in and it was furnished and decorated in a simple, but elegant style. The softness of the tatami mats on Kim's bare feet made her want to lie down and shake some of the weariness out of her body so she did just that. It was an hour later when the sound of the sliding door opening roused her from her nap.

"Possible-san, it is time for dinner," came the voice of a young woman, the same one that had led Kim to this room earlier. The girl didn't wait around to see if Kim would rise and instead closed the paper door behind her and carried on about her duties. Kim stretched her legs and arms, then rose to her feet and studied her face in the mirror of a compact she retrieved from her bag.

"_Let's see, hair's a mess, eyes are red with huge bags, skin is looking pasty and unhealthy. Oh yeah, I'm definitely in great shape to have dinner with a hundred people and face off against my boyfriends mistress._"

For the first time since high school Kim cursed her Midwestern "girl next door" looks as she closed the lid on her compact. Kim was always a little insecure about her beauty, which was one of the reasons why she still spent so much time preening, but since she had started going out with Ron she hadn't cared nearly as much. Sure she still read beauty magazines and yes, she still shopped at Club Banana, but the inveterate Smarty-Mart shopper had convinced her that she was beautiful enough for him even if she was wearing a 9-dollar pair of Capri pants and sported a full mane of bed-hair. Ron Stoppable had been _very_ good for her.

Kim left her room and approached the large dining hall of the school, she still remembered where it was from her last visit here many years ago. As she entered the room an ancient and wizened man raised his arm and beckoned her to sit.

"Sensei…" she spoke. She wanted to say something to him but she couldn't decide what. Luckily the old man rescued her.

"Possible-san, welcome to Yamanouchi. I hope you will find what you're looking for." Like many things the ancient master said, his last phrase was cryptic, as if it held some hidden meaning.

Kim was barely able to utter out a weak, "Me too."

The dinner went quickly, the food she noted was good in a healthy way that seemed to purge the last of the toxins from her body and her hangover was all but gone. Conversation had been light with most of it focusing on her recent exploits in the world and her encounters with various super villains. It seemed the students of Yamanouchi were not quite so cut off from the world as she had thought and many of them had questions for the inveterate crime fighter. Through all this Kim noticed that Yori was nowhere to be seen and she wondered where the female ninja had gotten off to, but secretly she was glad for the reprieve. The last thing she wanted to do was make a scene in front of the room full of students. It would be so the drama.

As the meal was coming to a close Kim excused herself after asking for directions to the garden. She had thought about returning to her room to put on some make-up, but she decided that no amount of war-paint would alleviate the nervousness she felt from the imminent encounter with Yori. The air outside in the garden was cool, they were after all high up in the mountains, but it was also refreshing and untainted by pollution.

"_I can see why Ron loved it here so much. It's so peaceful and clean._"

Kim didn't hear the footsteps of the approaching woman so she was a little stunned when she called out to her.

"Possible-san, I am here." Stated Yori flatly.

Kim turned around to face the woman and almost gasped at the way the moonlight was illuminating her features. Yori was beautiful and Kim felt positively inadequate next to her. She regretted not returning to her room before entering the garden.

"Yori…" Kim began, "I don't really know how to say this but…" she paused for a moment as the other woman took a seat on a stone bench next to her.

"Are you in love with Ron?" it was a weak play on Kim's part - she already knew the answer.

"For what it matters, Yes I am," replied the female ninja. Her voice stated it firmly, but Kim could also tell it was tinged with sadness.

"Yori… were you _with_ Ron? When… when he was here." Kim barely managed to force the words out of her mouth. She was dreading the reply.

Yori stood up from her seat almost immediately upon hearing what Kim had said to her. She was confused; she didn't know exactly what the other woman wanted.

"I… do not quite understand Possible-san."

Kim looked up to the moon and then back to the beautiful lotus flower named Yori Mutsamaru. She forced the words to come.

"Were you and Ron together here as…"

Yori finally knew where this was going and she arched an eyebrow and finished Kim's question, "Lovers?" She stood there for a moment looking into the expectant eyes of Kim Possible, deciding what, if anything, she should say.

"Possible-san, I do not know what is going on, and to be truthful part of me wants to reply with a yes, but that would…" her voice got lower, "… not be the truth." She adjusted her hair a little bit and looked off at the stars.

"I am in love with him, but he does not look at me that way. I will not lie, there was a time when I could not bear it any longer and I followed my heart, but he refused me."

Kim stood there listening to Yori's words with her mouth half open, shocked at the other woman's honesty.

"As ashamed as I was afterwards, I was also happy. Ron-kun is an amazing man and if he had accepted me I would have unwittingly destroyed one of the things that I love so much about him. He saved me from bringing dishonor upon myself and him."

Yori looked at Kim. She could see the beginning of tears forming in her eyes and she wondered what exactly was this all about. She could have easily asked the same question of Ron if she wanted to and without a doubt he would have been honest with her. It was one of the many things that Yori loved about Ron Stoppable – his kindness, his honesty, his loyalty, in many ways he already was what she herself aspired to be.

"Possible-san, what is going on? Is Ron-kun ok?" Yori was getting extremely agitated by the woman's strange behavior. Such things as she had said tonight to Kim were not things that she would have liked to admit and she wanted an answer as to what was happening.

Kim looked down in her hands. The tears were coming freely now as the dark realization of what she had done started to creep into her mind. She had heard Yori's response and it was as she had feared – she could detect no trace of dishonesty in the woman's voice, in fact she had shared with Kim an embarrassing rejection that she had suffered with Ron.

"I…" she softly began, "I… made a mistake. A terrible mistake. Oh God, Ron…" sobs were starting to overcome her and her body shuddered to their rhythm.

Yori looked impassively at the woman. She didn't know quite what to make of her confession and she didn't understand exactly what she was trying to imply. Did they have a fight? Did they break up? Was Ron now available? She banished that last thought from her mind as quickly as it formed. Yes, she was hopelessly in love with Ron Stoppable, but she would not take advantage of his feelings if the woman he loved had truly rejected him. Yori Mutsamaru knew, that above all things, love was patient.

Her hand started to reach out to the sobbing woman in comfort and she spoke, "Possible-san, what has happened? Please tell me." The words that came in reply caused her to stop her comforting gesture.

"I… I wanted to hurt him as bad as he hurt me. I… oh God what have I done."

The hand that had once been opened turned into a fist as the meaning of Kim's words sunk into Yori's mind.

"What did you do?" Yori's voice had taken on a cold edge and her question was not really a question at all, but an order that Kim had to respond to.

"I… hurt him. I thought he was cheating on me and I wanted revenge… and then he came home and found us…" Kim's voice finally gave out and all that she could utter from her lips were unintelligible cries.

It took a great deal of effort on Yori's part, but she managed to unclench her fist. She was furious and it was only the fact that she knew how Ron would take it if she attacked Kim that kept her from lashing out at the stupid woman.

"_So stupid. I can't believe she could be so stupid._"

"You disgust me."

Kim looked up at the woman and saw that the words matched the look upon her face. There was anger in her eyes but also something else… pity and scorn.

Kim tried to steady herself. She felt keenly that the woman was right - she was disgusted at her own actions as well.

"Y-y-you don't have to tell me that… I know…" she weakly uttered.

Yori lost her calm and focus for a moment and swung out with the back of her hand, sending Kim sprawling across the bench. She muttered something out loud in Japanese that Kim was sure was an insult of some sort or another.

"Look at how you have made me dishonor myself!" she screamed at Kim.

For her part, Kim didn't raise her arms to cover herself from Yori's angry glare, nor did she shy away from the furious woman. Instead she stood there, resigned to the fact that whatever punishment the Japanese girl wanted to unleash upon her, it would be far less brutal than the pain she was feeling in her heart.

Yori waited for Kim to respond and when she didn't she fumed. She wanted so badly to beat this woman senseless but she knew that it would only dishonor herself more and cause Ron pain. Still, she couldn't bring herself to go without imparting one final shot.

"Look at me," Yori commanded.

Kim could see that the other woman was openly weeping and tears were marring her delicate features.

"You are a cruel person. You had everything I wanted and you threw it away like garbage. You are a fool, _demo baka wa shinanakya naoranai_!"

Kim didn't quite understand what Yori had said, but the way she had said it made her intention quite clear. She watched through her tears as Yori Mutasamaru strode from the moonlight garden, the strange threat still hovering in the air.

-

"Molly! Iris!" came the call of Timothy North as he barreled through the door of his Richmond Park estate.

Almost immediately two women, one short and plump with a shock of red hair and one tall and gangly her face framed by dark hair, arrived on the scene.

"Master North! Is that her?" inquired the plump woman.

"Molly, is the room prepared?" North ignored the woman's question with one of his own.

"Yes sir Master North, everything's set up as you will and the fire's been burning for hours so it's nice and cozy."

The other woman, Iris was her name, moved close to her employer and was attempting to help him carry the woman up the stairs. Her nose wrinkled as she caught scent of the seemingly unconscious woman.

"Um, Master North sir, I think I shall fetch a basin of water and some rags. We really can't put the poor dear to bed like this." She said as she started to make her way towards the kitchen.

North just smiled to himself, that was a very Iris-like comment. He liked the stern faced woman but she ran his house like a military barracks sometimes and although he could afford to buy an entire warehouse of new Parisian bed linens he didn't bother to stop the woman. The girl in his arms did have a rather unhealthy aroma about her and a bedside bath would probably do her good until she was capable of attending to such needs on her own.

"Jensen!" he called out over his shoulder, "Go and fetch Fornsby from his wife, I have need for his professional service at once." He didn't like waking up the elderly gentleman so late into the night but he had to leave for Paris early in the morning and he had legal matters for his lawyer to attend to.

He was pleasantly surprised at the warmth of the room once he entered it. He vaguely recalled having visited this room once or twice since he had bought the estate three years ago but there were so many rooms that he could hardly remember them all. Still, Iris and her battalion of housemaids had kept everything in good order and the tiny apartment looked positively cheery with the fireplace casting a warm glow on everything. He set the sick woman down on top of the bed sheets and fumbled at the small oil lamp on the end table.

"Let's see what we've got here," he said to himself as he removed his cloak from her still slumbering form and started to take off what little garments she wore. They were ratty and probably flea infested and most definitely would need to be burned, so with quite the disgusted face he placed the rags in the fireplace and hoped that they wouldn't give off too rancid of a smell as the fire consumed them. Turning his attention back to the sleeping woman he was finally able to take in exactly what had happened to her over the last three months of her interment at Bedlam. Her body was thin, much thinner than he would have thought and it was covered with sores and bites, some of them obviously infected. Her hair was a rats nets of tangled curls and matted dirt, and she would probably need a to lose quite a bit of her long black hair before she would be presentable again in public. The most startling thing however was her unhealthy pasty complexion.

"_It's no wonder I didn't find her sooner, she looks nothing like the description I was giving out. I wonder how this happened?_"

"Master North…" came a soft voice behind him. It was Iris and she had returned with a basin full of hot water and some peppermint soap.

"Iris, please bathe her and see if you can put something on those bites and sores. After she wakes up I want you to make sure she's thoroughly cleaned and that you burn the bedding and replace it."

"Yes sir," replied Iris. She was rather uncomfortable with the fact that there was a man in the room with an unconscious naked girl but she conceded that Mr. North was not quite the ordinary man. He had been a fair and kind employer to her for almost four years now and she had witnessed first hand his astounding acts of generosity. Iris looked down at the woman in the bed and despite her famished appearance she could tell that she was quite beautiful. A small part of her wondered if perhaps she wasn't a little jealous. Iris had no delusions about her own features or her station in life, but this was the first woman that Mr. North had ever brought into the Richmond estate. She wondered if she could get used to being only the second in command of the household if this woman was to supplant her authority by becoming the Lady of the manor.

Mr. North was at the door now when he turned and began to issue more orders that had probably occurred to him as an afterthought. "Oh and Iris, could you please be a dear and lend her some house clothes for the time being? As soon as you're able tomorrow I want you to send one of the girls to a dressmaker for some clothing and once she's awake and up to it, take her down there herself so she can choose her own."

North's face broke out in a smile as a thought occurred to him.

"And while you're at it, pick up something for yourself. My gift!"

"Yes sir, and thank you." Iris blushed a little as Mr. North left the room. Sure she had no delusions about her looks or her station, but Mr. North definitely had a way of making even a stern faced middle-aged woman like herself grin like a little girl.

Now that Mr. North had left the room Iris began her task of cleaning up the poor woman. She made a fierce lather of soap and smiled a bit as the scent of peppermint came to her nose. It was one of Mr. North's many inventions and one that had taken off quite well. Scented soap, really – who would think of something like that? The maid did her best to try and clean the woman without moving her too much, but it was hard going since her entire body was filthy. She wondered what exactly had happened to her and why she seemed to be unconscious. Mr. North had warned her that the woman might not be responsive for a few days and he had mentioned that he had hired a physician to come live at the estate for a week or until she was feeling better.

"_You must be a very important lady…_"

Iris worked the damp cloth over the woman's face and she noticed that despite her sleeping demeanor, the woman's eyes were moving rapidly under her eyelids.

"_The poor dear. I hope she isn't having any nightmares._"

Unfortunately she was, and it was the reason why she woke up two days later with a blood-curdling scream.

At first Shego was frightened. She had tried to move her arms to her head to cover her own mouth but had found that they wouldn't move. It took her a moment to realize that the reason why was because they were buried under an extremely thick down comforter.

"_I'm in a bed?_"

Her mind locked onto those words. It had felt like ages since she had seen her own bed, or even had a good nights rest. The cold damp floors of her cell and the rats that came out to nip at her toes had long ago made the very idea of sleep a nauseating prospect.

"Are you alright miss!" came the voice of a middle aged matriarch as she barreled into the room, her chest was heaving and it was obvious that she had ran here as fast as she could.

She went to open her mouth but found it difficult to speak. Her throat was parched and her mouth was dry and she felt more than a little dizzy. Eventually she decided to communicate the fact to the gaping woman.

"W-w-water…" she managed to croak out with much difficulty.

"Of course dear!" replied the woman as she moved to the side of the bed. There was a small pitcher on the nightstand and several glasses. The woman removed one of the glasses and filled it with water and then reached around to help Shego sit up. She had strong arms and it was obvious that she had little difficulty moving the frailer woman around. Gently the woman tipped the glass to Shego's lips. It had been so long since she had tasted clean water that it felt like her mouth was going to melt away. She managed to get most of the drink down but still a few faint dribbles trailed down her chin and were quickly wiped away by what she assumed was a nurse.

Just as this was happening two more figures appeared at the door. There was a man, an elderly gentleman with a distinguished shock of white through his otherwise dark hair and standing next to him was a short plump red haired woman.

"Doctor Wentworth, she's awake!" stated the woman who was still trying to get Shego to drink down the last of the water.

"I see and I heard Iris! In fact I could hear her down in the study." The man moved over to the other side of the bed and sat down. "Hello child, I'm Doctor Wentworth and your friend Mr. North has asked me to take care of you."

Shego looked at the man in confusion. Who was this Mr. North they spoke of? What was she doing here? And finally, where _was_ here? At first she had assumed she was in a hospital but the more she looked around the less that seemed a likely conclusion.

The doctor noticed his patients confusion and turned to the woman who was setting down the glass and spoke, "Iris, has she said anything since she's been awake?"

"No doctor… well she asked for water, but that was all."

The doctor nodded sagely and then returned to his patient.

"We're going to leave you alone for now, but I want Molly over there to bring you something to eat. Don't worry if you can't feed yourself, she'll take care of everything. When you've gotten some food and a little rest I'll come back and examine you. I have to admit I'm a little shocked at the condition in which you were brought here, but I think you'll be fine with a little rest."

The kindly man smiled at Shego and gave her a reassuring squeeze on the arm.

"Molly, bring her something to eat please - nothing too rich, just porridge and some toast if you will and a cup of warm tea," the doctor stated.

"Come now, lets give the poor girl some privacy. She's out of the woods and a little meal will set her back on the path to health."

With that, the man and the two women left Shego alone in the room. Her strength, which had seemed to be completely gone moments before, was slowly starting to return to her. She looked at one pale, skinny arm and noticed that her once toned physique was a retched shadow of what it had been. She had been sick.

"_No, that isn't right - I've been broken, inside and out._"

She looked around the room and wondered if she was dreaming, if she was having yet another one of her delusions. Months of being locked up in a dark cell had caused her to question her own sanity and it had become so bad recently that she often found herself talking to the darkness and asking, "_Who am I?_"

No response ever came, that's what had made it so terrible.

The door cracked open again and the shorter red haired woman entered the room with a tray in her arms. She walked over to the side of the bed and laid it down across her lap.

"Breakfast", the woman simply stated.

She then turned and walked to the door, pausing a moment and said, "Check under the bowl." She then closed the door and her footsteps receded down the hall.

Shego looked at the food that was in front of her and she gingerly picked up a piece of toast and tried it out for size. It was warm, fresh and delicious. Her mouth started to chew on it absently as she took both of her hands and moved the steaming bowl of porridge to the side of the tray, revealing a small paper square.

Still crunching her toast she reached for the paper and unfolded it, finding a small iron key as well as a note that read –

_To the mysterious lady,_

_First off, the most important thing – _

_The year is 1806 and you are in Richmond, a suburb of London England._

_Just let that sink in for a moment._

_Secondly, I regret not being there myself to greet you when you finally awoke but events in the world that concern us both are moving faster than I had anticipated and require my undivided attention. _

_In any event, welcome to my home. Richmond is a safe place, or at least it should be for the time being. However I cannot say that if I fail in my task or if my enemy becomes aware of your existence that it will remain so for long. In order to prepare for this possibility I have left you this key._

_The key opens a drawer to a desk in my personal study. It is located on the third floor of the estate and faces west. Inside the drawer you will find papers that identify you as one Ms. Bellatrix North as well as a letter of introduction that describes you as being one of my distant cousins from the Americas. I hope you'll forgive me for being presumptuous about the name, but I found it quite fitting. Bellatrix is a star in the sky whose name translates to "the female warrior". It reminded me of you._

_If ever you find yourself unwilling to remain at Richmond or in dire need to flee, take those papers and present the letter to the bankers at C. Hoare & Co., 37 Fleet Street, London. They have been instructed to release unto you a sum of 10,000 pounds sterling as well as a deed proving your ownership of a small cottage in Leeds. _

_It is my wish that you remain at Richmond until I have returned from abroad, however I will not force you to do so. At any time you wish you may use the key and take what I have offered you to start a new life. _

_However if you do choose to remain under the care of my staff I ask only that you treat them with respect and stick to the cover story that I have provided you with – the one exception to this rule being Molly. Doubtless she was the one who gave you this letter and she is the one whom above all others you can confide in. I will not say any more on the matter than to urge you to hold her trust. _

_I look forward to returning to Richmond with good news and to see you healthy and hale once again. Please take care to destroy this letter, preferably by fire._

_Respectfully,_

_Mr. Timothy North_

_­_Shego read and then re-read the letter a half a dozen times while she was shoveling the warm porridge into her mouth. The food was bland but wholesome and it took the edge off her hunger and settled her mind.

She had no idea who this Mr. North was, or what he knew about her or why he had brought her to his home or even why he was offering her money and a way out. She mused for a moment about her new name and her new identity and decided that she would have to deal with it later – once she found out exactly where she was.

She was just about to toss the letter on the bedspread when something caught her eye. On the back of the note, written in a tiny hand was a postscript of sorts. She brought the letter to her face and read the words, slowly repeating them to herself.

They were three words, three little words that she had thought no one would ever say to her. Three words that she had so desperately wanted to hear with all her heart. She didn't know who this Mr. North was, but he had at least written those words down for her to read.

She started to cry as she had many times over the last few months, but this time they were not tears of agony or sadness, but tears of relief. She touched her face once and then repeated those three little words out loud, relishing in the way they sounded.

"You're not crazy."

-

A/N:

Ho ho ho, I think I got some of you guys right at the end there didn't I? I'm sure unlike Shego most of us can figure out who the mysterious Mr. North is and maybe even _ferret_ out the meaning behind his name (probably gave that one away, didn't I?)

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me through this chapter, which I'm sure was a long, dark and strange ride for most of you. Poor Shego huh? I almost felt bad putting her through so much crap but I justified it by saying it's all for the sake of the story! What do you guys think? Was it too much, or done poorly? Did anyone start feeling sympathy for Shego's plight? I'm trying to work with what I have here to make her a more sympathetic character, so maybe I went a little over the edge. I hope it's still a 'T' rating! (ducks)

Also in case people are curious the words that Yori speaks to Kim at the end of their scene is a Japanese idiom that roughly translates to, "but only death can cure a fool" – so yeah, Ninja girl was threatening Kimberly Anne quite a bit!

Oh and for history buffs – The Royal Hospital of Bethlehem was a real place, and it was definitely called Bedlam and it did indeed eventually move to St. Georges Field and into two beautiful buildings designed by Sidney Smirke. And yes, the bank "_C. Hoare & Co._" does also exist and in fact its one of London's oldest private depositories, having been founded in the 1600's. Richmond, where Mr. North has his estate, was also quite the snazzy suburb of London, being home to royalty and aristocrats for centuries.

Finally one of my friends told me that Bellatrix is the name of a minor character in one of the harry potter novels! I've actually never read past the first one (sorry, it's just not my style) so this was news to me. However I am not changing the name at all, I think it's actually fitting for the female warrior with cosmic powers to be named after that star.

I can't promise any more updates any time soon, I have been neglecting my other two stories to pump out nearly 25,000 words of this one in just a few days. But take heart, I shall definitely return to it!

Once again thanks for reading and please review!

QC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Second Chance

The enigmatic American, Mr. Timothy North, strode down the Parisian street with his great coat clutched firmly around him. This winter had been harsh, one of the harshest he had remembered since his arrival on the Continent a decade ago. He had been, as always, following his enemy and the trail of his pursuit had brought him to France. Now, just as then, it was a country embroiled in war and he wondered what it would be like to visit in more peaceful times.

"_Perhaps a nice château in the countryside, or a Paris penthouse. She probably would have liked either, but I suspect she would have preferred the penthouse._"

North sighed. He hadn't thought of his old love in a very long time. It wasn't that he had purposely tried to push the woman out of his memories, it was just that it had been so _long_ and he had so much to do that she had somehow become less important to him than she had been. Still, he reflected, what remained of his shattered heart loved her dearly.

"_Such strange thoughts on a bitter night. It must be because of her… to think that I overlooked where she was so many times, what a fool I was. If it hadn't been for Winslow's lack of ethics I would never have heard of the "green skinned beauty". To think, he wanted to sell **her** of all people to my research hospital._"

The hospital was one of Timothy North's many and varied enterprises. He had first made his name in Asia and practically burst onto the world stage by acquiring mineral rights in Afghanistan. From there he had invested wisely in various endeavors that always seemed to return astounding profits. To the business world he was known as the "golden boy", not only because of his unruly mane of blonde hair but at how everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. It was with no small degree of amusement that North reflected on how the _secret_ of his success was so fantastical that no one would believe it.

At the hospital it was by a quirk of fate that he had found her. He had made a different choice for breakfast, finished off a meeting early and decided he had some spare time to check up on one of his more 'humanitarian' endeavors. His office in the hospital was not often used but he maintained it anyway due to his position as the chief backer and director – so it was with a great deal of surprise that Niles Wentworth, the chief of staff, spotted his benefactor on the premises.

"Why Mr. North, what do we owe the honor of your visit sir?" inquired the distinguished medical practitioner.

"Nothing special Wentworth, I had a spare bit of time and decided to drop by. How is the hospital, is everything going ok? Do you need more resources?" replied North.

Wentworth smiled. He mused that out of all the barons of industry, perhaps only Timothy North was using his vast fortune for the benefit of mankind. The hospital was a model institution for its time and asides from the good work they did, they also trained Doctors from all over the world, in a way passing on their knowledge and ideals to a new generation of medical practitioners. Wentworth, like most of his staff, thought they were doing good Christian works here and they were visibly proud of not only their institution but of the ideals it was founded on. Doctoring had long since passed being an occupation for Niles Wentworth. Thanks to Timothy North, it had become his passion.

"Not at all sir, in fact the hospital is doing quite well – we'll be in the black this year for the first time since we opened." Wentworth said this with a broad grin; he had worked ferociously hard to be able to say that to his "boss".

"Excellent Niles!" Mr. North was visibly excited and rubbed his hands with childlike glee.

"If things are going so well, then how do you feel about perhaps opening another hospital, I was thinking about someplace in the Orient. You know the Chinese have thousands of years of medical history and some of their techniques are startlingly effective…" Mr. North was about to go off on one of his famous tangents.

"Ah well, yes sir, I suppose – but to be frank I'm not so sure about moving my family from the Kingdom. Perhaps a younger man is what you're looking for, someone about your age sir?" Niles smiled as he said this last part. It was no secret that despite his fabulous wealth Timothy North was exceptionally young. At the age of 35 he held property and businesses throughout the globe and had seemingly managed to do so under his own steam – no old money was involved and it was actually a bit of mystery how he had received his education and business acumen.

North wasn't visibly upset at being rebuffed by the older man. He had tried to have this conversation with Wentworth many times in the past and he was still holding out hope that he would eventually accept his offer.

"Well then, how about a brandy?"

Wentworth had an expression on his face like he was lost deep in thought, but then laughed and said, "Of course!"

The two men sat down in the comfortable chairs of the office while North poured two glasses from a crystal decanter. Wentworth laid a stack of papers he was carrying on the desk in between them and then accepted the glass. Something on the papers caught North's eye.

"What's this Niles?" said North as he reached out to remove the top most paper, it was a letter written in a natty script.

"Oh just one of the devils at Bethlehem Royal… seems he has a _patient_ he wants to try and give to us… for a price of course. I'm not so keen on the idea," replied Niles as he sipped his brandy. The word _patient_ was said with such a tone that it left little doubt that what Wentworth was actually referring to was more akin to an _inmate_ of the insane asylum.

North's eyes quickly scanned the letter and he started to curse. Wentworth was taken aback; he had never, not once in his life, seen Mr. North agitated.

"What the devil is it?" asked the now distraught Doctor.

"Oh I'm such a fool Niles! How many times did I miss this? And all over a blasted hot meal!" North growled the last words and stared at the letter like he was willing it to spontaneously combust with his eyes.

"What should I do Tim? Should I find a constable?" Niles Wentworth was panicking. He didn't know very much about the world that his boss lived in, but lurid thoughts of blackmail were starting to rollick in his head.

"No, no, nothing like that. Excuse me Niles, I merely lost myself in my own stupidity for a moment."

North closed his eyes and began to think. The plan was already forming in his mind.

"_Maybe this is the piece that I was missing. I have to find out for sure._"

North picked up the letter, folded it twice and placed it in his coat pocket.

"Niles, you are hereby relieved of duty," he stated.

"Sir!" gasped the confused medical chief.

"No, not like that Niles. I want you to place your second in charge of the hospital. You're coming to Richmond and I have a patient I want you to take very good care of. You'll be there for at least a week, possibly two. I'll triple your normal salary and send Nell an apology for stealing her husband. Go home and pack right away, I'm leaving as well."

Wentworth took a moment to digest what was going on. There was no way that he would refuse his friend when he took a tone like that. North had been his benefactor for several years now and he and his family owed the man a great deal. Not that it would have mattered, if Mr. North needed Niles Wentworth, then he would have him. It was as simple as that.

"All right, I'm going home… but where are you going Tim?"

North turned around at the door and broke out into one of his famous grins, "Why, to get your patient of course!"

When Timothy North entered the dark cell at _Bedlam_ and cast the light of his lantern across the huddling form in the corner he knew that one of the last pieces of the puzzle he had been chasing had finally snapped into place.

"_It's her,_" he thought to himself.

Now, in the cold Paris night, Timothy North shuddered a little - both in excitement and at the cold.

"_I wonder if she'll stay? Not that it matters I suppose, she is trapped either way. If she takes the money and the cottage, it will probably not occur to her that I placed her there so I could find her easily later. I still do not know what part you are to play in this little drama, but so long as I have you and he does not, I suppose I am ahead in the game._"

North ducked into a darkened alley and leaned his back against the cold brick walls.

The game. It was all about the game. He had been playing it for what seemed like centuries now. Him and his enemy, circling each other, reacting to each others plots, designing traps, planning contingencies, striking out seemingly at random in attempts to lure the other out. They were like two moths eternally circling a single flame and try as he might Timothy North knew he couldn't escape his destiny.

Or perhaps he could. Visions of the green skinned woman sprung unbidden to his mind. He had learned long ago that his enemy was looking for her, he assumed in order to forge an alliance between them. But he had found her first and he was going to make sure that the two of them stayed as far away from each other as possible. He was originally tempted to leave her rotting in her own refuse in that dark cell, after all he was aware of her nature and knew that it was possible that she would turn on him in a heartbeat. The thing that drove his hand however was that it had occurred to him that if he could find her so easily, then his enemy could as well.

"_Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer._"

It was an axiom he knew well.

A soft shuffling in the alley ahead of him disturbed his thoughts and he crouched down low in the darkness. There were footsteps coming towards him, so imperceptibly soft that he would have missed them if he hadn't already knew they were coming.

"La Fleur" he called out as a means of greeting.

The other man didn't respond at first. He looked around, trying to discern where the voice had come from. North stepped out of the shadows and made his presence known to the other man – his compatriot in tonight's endeavor.

"Ah, monsieur North. Shall we proceed to this evenings entertainment?"

The Frenchman was dapper and impeccably dressed with handsome looks and remarkably good teeth for the 19th century. North had only one thought in his head.

"_Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer._"

"Certainly, let us depart… the usual way."

North knew that La Fleur was a traitor, he had known of his betrayal for ages now. Every time he was faced with the man he wanted to scream out at him "I know what you are doing!" but his cold, calculating mind kept him in check. La Fleur had his uses and he would need his help for the mission ahead.

Together the two men came to the back of the alley and North opened up his great coat, procuring a metal claw attached to hundreds of feet of supple cord. With a nod to his partner and a spinning motion of his arms he threw the contraption into the air and visibly winced as it made a clattering noise on the exposed masonry of the building above them.

"After you La Fleur." He knew that if he went first then the other man would retrieve the pistol he had concealed in his pocket and shoot him dead. He didn't have time to deal with that outcome.

La Fleur looked noticeably perturbed and then began to ascend the rope, with North following close behind them. They reached the second floor of the building and the window that North knew would be unlocked – a bribe to a cleaning lady had ensured that. Soundlessly they both entered through the window and into the dark hallway.

"_Here comes the part I hate._"

Once he and La Fleur were situated in the hall, North drew a long blade out from under his coat. It was a kukri, an ancient curved knife that was the trademark of a breed of Nepalese fighters he had lived with during his time in the Orient. The blade slung out in the darkness faster than La Fleur could notice and it found its rest within a hair's breath of the traitor's neck.

"Now La Fleur, if you value your neck you'll listen to me. The first thing you will do is stand very still while I relieve you of your pistol."

North removed the man's weapon and placed it in his own pocket.

"Very good, I think you might live through this after all. Now, we are going to march to the end of the hall and you are going to give the password to the man who is behind the door that leads to the stairwell. Let's go."

North guided the now terrified La Fleur to the solid oak door at the end of the shrouded hallway and gave him a little incentive by using the edge of his blade to raise the frightened man's chin. There was a muffled sound from behind the door while La Fleur said the pass phrase.

North could hear the bolts dropping on the other side of the door and he knew that he had seconds to react. With a powerful jerking motion he shoved La Fleur face forward through a closed window, sending the man plummeting to the ground below. At this time the last bolt in the door was unlocked and it was starting to crack open. North used the hand that had just sent the traitorous Frenchman to his doom to push back the heavy door and with a downward motion of his right arm planted the blade of his kukri into the surprised door guards face. It was such a brutal blow that the poor man didn't even have time to scream before he died, which was exactly what North had counted on.

Leaving the weapon imbedded in the now corpse, he bounded up the stairs to the third story loft two and three steps at a time, his long legs carrying him upward with a dizzying speed.

The first man to see him was too slow to react and received a devastating kick to the neck while he was reaching for his rifle that he had laid to rest against the wall. This however left the other man free to retrieve his gun and bear down upon North. Knowing what was coming, North made no waste of time as he wrapped his arms around the man he had just felled and used his unconscious body to absorb the lead ball from the second man's rifle. With no time to reload in such close quarters, the man raised his rifle like an axe and tried to drive it down into North's face. It was a terrible mistake.

North didn't dive out of the way, he instead stood his ground and brought his own fist up to meet the arc of the rifle, shattering it at it's wooden stock and leaving the metal barrel to fall harmlessly over his shoulder. His assailant's eyes went wide with terror as North performed a seemingly gravity defying acrobatic twist that ended with his leg smashing into the side of the man's head.

North relaxed his posture and gently dusted himself off. The encounter had gone about as well as he could have hoped for. He idly wondered if La Fleur would survive his fall, it was after all the first time North had thrown him or anyone for that matter, from a window.

"_Maybe things have already changed. Let's see if the plans are still there._"

Walking across the room, North stood face to face with a large iron clad safe. He sadly regretted the fact that he had never learned how to crack a safe in all of his years of adventuring and instead drew a long cylindrical stick from his coat pocket. It was dangerous to carry it around like that but North assumed that it was the least of his worries on a night like this.

A few moments later there was a thunderous explosion and North was congratulating himself on yet another successful mission. As he fled into the dark Parisian night, the man who was known as Timothy North finally took the time to carefully study the papers that he had risked his life to recover. The information was all there; just as he had remembered it from the _last time_ he had stolen the schematics. He was no scientist, but he knew what the device depicted on the plans was capable of and he also knew who had commissioned its creation. Now all he had to do was deliver the diagrams to his own scientists in order to craft his response.

"_Perhaps if I just commit them to memory, then the next time I can skip this entire unpleasant business with La Fleur._"

He shook the idea away. The schematics for the device were incredibly complicated and the probability of him not remembering a single trivial detail was astoundingly high. One of the reasons why he had been able to thrive in this unhappy life was due to the fact that he was always a man that acknowledged his own limitations.

"_Stuff that idea. Besides, there won't be a next time. I'm going to get it right on this go. I can feel it._"

For the first time since he had been thrust into this almost impossible situation, he allowed himself a tiny almost faint glimmer of hope. A smile spread across his face and as he receded into the night he said something out loud that he hadn't said in many, many years.

"Booyah!"

-

"Bellatrix North."

She tasted the name on the tip of her tongue and let it roll about through her lips. It wasn't a _bad_ name, it was just… unusual. But then again, so was Shego – so who was she to complain? Of course, this was assuming that Shego actually _was_ her name. She had been so sure once, before the beatings and the darkness and the madness had finally gotten its grip on her.

"Bella…that's cute."

She wrinkled her nose a little bit while the word 'cute' came out of her mouth. Did she like cute things? Did she hate them? She didn't seem to know, it had been a long time since an issue like this had been a concern of hers.

In her dreams, the ones that weren't nightmares at least, she had caught glimpses of a life that she had been so sure that she had lived. It all felt so very _real_ to her, so much so that it was frightening. Frightening because her belief in that world had landed her in an insane asylum and frightening because try as she might she could find no evidence that it had ever existed.

She looked again in the mirror on her vanity and started to brush her black hair with long even strokes. When she had first awoken here in Richmond she had been in such a state wretchedness that it had taken her the better part of a week to recover enough to even leave her bed. It was embarrassing to say the least, but the maids that took care of her were kind to her and took great pains to reassure her that everything would be ok. She remembered the first time when she had stumbled over to the vanity to look at her visage and the shock that had overcome her.

She was, in a way, exactly how she remembered herself being – except not. Her hair was black, her eyes were green and her skin was a very pale shade of green. There were a few noticeable differences however. Ever since the accident she had always had a subtle shimmering nimbus of green energy around her, it actually made her black hair sometimes appear to be a very dark green in dim light. She noticed it was gone.

Or she thought… perhaps it had never been there in the first place? The difference between reality and fantasy was a very thin and often smudged line for her.

The second thing she noticed was the absolute state of ruination her body was in. While in her memory she had remembered herself as toned and if not a little buxom, the image in the mirror was thin as a rail with ribs that stuck out from her sides. She looked like an anorexic runway model and as much as she hated it, it was by far the least of her concerns once she started to examine her hair.

What had once been a long and luxurious mane that had draped down below her posterior was a tangled mess of curls, breaks and splits that she was certain was probably infested with vermin. Despite her formerly voluptuous figure she had always been a bit of a tomboy, after all growing up with four brothers would do that to a girl. However, the one real concession she had made to her femininity was her incredibly long hair and she had cherished it like a treasure every since she was a little girl. Now it was more or less destroyed and it made her break into tears.

"_Maybe I am insane. Shego, crying about her hair?_"

It was with trembling hands and red eyes that an hour later she had found herself with a pair of shears sitting in front of the same mirror, cutting away the curls and snarls. When she was finished she admired her handiwork and felt that she had done at the least a competent job. Her hair was thinner now and much shorter, falling only to her shoulders. She combed out her bangs in the front and mused that if it wasn't for her green skin she might look distinctly Asiatic.

In a strange way that first haircut that she performed in the solitude of her new apartment was a liberating experience. It was as if she was able to change her appearance and hence reinvent herself into a new person. Perhaps she wasn't really Shego, maybe she had never been, but she thought to herself that for a while, in order to escape from the not quite so distant and terrifying past, she might try on the name of Bellatrix North and see where that led her.

She had been feeling better today and one of the women that waited on her, her name was Iris, had decided that today was the day for her to finally get out of the house. The doctor had given her a clean bill of health, proclaiming that he was quite shocked at her rapid recovery and only instructing her to rest if she felt tired, to make sure to eat plenty of fortifying foods and to stay awake from drink. All three things had been relatively enjoyable for her to agree to.

"Excuse me Miss North, I've brought you some clothes to wear. It's very cold out side and I doubt we'd make it much farther than the front door if all you had was that night shirt."

Shego lazily turned away from the vanity mirror and focused her attention on the woman before her. The woman, Iris, had been her near constant companion for the last few days and Shego had found herself becoming a little fond of the middle-aged woman. She had a stern face and a no-nonsense demeanor, but she also _cared_ about what happened to Shego and this fact had endeared the maid to her.

"Thanks Iris, and please, call me Bella"

"_No time like the present to get into the swing of things._" Shego/Bella thought to herself.

The older woman smiled at her and placed some articles of clothing down on the bed.

"I can't say I see the family resemblance, but your humor is the same as the Masters! Now please come and see what I brought you."

Shego stood up from the vanity and with slightly shaky legs moved over to the bed. She was still fairly weak from her long ordeal at the insane asylum and it would probably be weeks, if not longer, before she fully recovered. She reached a hand out and picked up the dark dress, holding it to her body.

"What _is_ this?" she stated with a tiny note of disdain in her voice. The style was _so_ not hers.

The other woman looked extremely embarrassed and played at the hem of her sleeves.

"Well, pardon me Miss, but it was all that we could find that would fit you. You're rather tall compared to most of the girls here and the only thing that I could find that would hang correctly was my Sunday best." Iris had picked up on the tone in Shego's voice and was mortified that she had stupidly expected a female acquaintance of Mr. North's to consent to wearing the clothes, even the best clothes, of a common house maid.

Shego wanted to kick herself. She had not meant to deride the dress so much; her comment was more driven by shock and also a little confusion at how to put on the many skirts that came along with it. Once she took a closer look at it she noticed it was actually quite beautiful – it was black crushed velvet with what looked like mother of pearl buttons and a hint of embroidery around the edges, red roses if she could tell correctly.

"_Great, the first person that has been kind to me since I can remember and I insult her best outfit._"

Perhaps it was the feeling of being lost and alone that had tamed her caustic nature, or perhaps it was the fact that she desperately needed a friend right now, but whatever the case Shego found herself doing something she didn't often do. She apologized.

"I… didn't mean it like that Iris." Shego held up the mass of petticoats, "I'm just not used to wearing… this kind of stuff."

Iris just looked at Shego like she was trying to comprehend exactly what she was saying and probably hoping that it wasn't scandalous. Shego caught the look and tried to do damage control.

"Yeah, I usually wear pants, or something…" her voice trailed off.

Iris blinked a little bit and then broke out into laughter.

"Oh you have that same outrageous American humor that Mr. North has! Here, let me help you get into this!"

It wasn't exactly the response that Shego was hoping for, but her unintentional joke seemed to have removed the tension between her and the older woman that she had come to depend upon. Despite the inherent level of weirdness of dressing up in turn of the century (and 19th century for that matter) clothes, Shego actually found herself enjoying the process a great deal. Iris was a little bit plumper than her so the dress hung a little loose, but as she looked at herself in the mirror she decided she looked rather adorable. Not exactly the kind of thing she would choose to wear on her own, but it did contrast nicely with her rather unusual skin-tone. In fact things were going rather well until she attempted to put on her boots.

"Ugh… uhhh… grrr…." She struggled mightily to get her foot down past the heel of the boots she was given but found that no matter how much she twisted or turned or how hard she pushed it was simply an impossible task. Iris has excused herself a few minutes ago and arrived just in time to hear several rather un-ladylike words utter from Shego's mouth. Sensing that discretion was required at the moment, the matriarch wisely decided to forget what she had heard and instead placed another pair of boots into Shego's hand.

Shego stared at the boots, they were… well they were ugly. The ones that she had been trying to put on were not all that nice looking either, but they had a heel and a pointed toe and could pass for something at least resembling modern fashion. These ones however looked like they had seen better days and had a bulbous front toe that vaguely reminded her of clown shoes. She looked up expectantly at Iris, almost as if saying, "_Please don't make me wear these._"

"Please don't take offense Miss, but your feet are… well rather large." Iris was obviously uncomfortable and to her delight Shego merely laughed.

"I suppose along with new clothes, some shoes might be in order?" she responded as she laced up the brown monstrosities.

"Certainly, whatever you desire Miss. Master North left implicit instructions in regards to your welfare." Iris stated in a professional tone. Shego felt that there was something more behind those words, but she didn't want to press. Iris was the only friend she currently had.

The two women tried to enjoy the coach ride to the city proper but it was difficult due to the weather. They were both huddled together with large shawls and blankets over them to ward off the cold as they began to talk. The conversation was light, but it was obvious to Shego that this "Mr. North" had not been very forthcoming with any information in regards to her own situation, which was actually quite good. It left Shego on her own to develop a cover story that she found a little humorous.

"So, Miss Bella, where are you from in America?" asked Iris.

Shego didn't really think too much about it so left her answer vague, "Oh the Midwestern part…"

"Do you mean Pennsylvania?" inquired the maid.

"_Wow… I need to look at a map sometime soon, is Pennsylvania the Midwest?"_

"Tell me Miss Bella, what does your family do?" continued Iris.

"They're in… law enforcement." This brought a huge grin to Shego's face, since it was, more or less true – her brothers were Go City's own personal super hero team. Luckily Iris had not asked about herself. Later it occurred to Shego that the woman probably assumed that she merely had no profession.

It was in this manner that the two women chatted on their way into London and while Shego was being evasive in her answers to Iris, she had found that Iris in her own way was doing a good job of evading any question she directed at her about Mr. North.

"So… when is my _cousin_ going to be home?" she asked.

"He didn't quite say. He's a very busy man. If I may ask, how are you two related?" she peered at Shego for a moment then realized she was staring and looked away.

Shego caught the meaning of the woman's look. The subject had never been broached and apparently _something_ had been said about it since none of the people that she had encountered at the manor, including the doctor, had ever questioned her about her unusual skin coloration. She cast about in her mind for an answer to the direct question and a plausible excuse for the unsaid one.

"We're distantly related, our grand fathers were brothers." Shego then cast a knowing look, or what she assumed was a knowing look at the older woman and continued, "Grandfather's wife was from the Orient and I'm told that I favor her."

Shego hoped that maybe a little Occidental ignorance would help bluff her way through what might be an uncomfortable situation. Luckily for her Iris merely returned her look and complimented her, "Well I must say your certainly have exotic features. I bet you have many suitors."

Again Shego noted the undercurrent in the woman's voice, but she couldn't quite place what it was. There was something there, almost like she was…

"_Oh, ho, ho – she's wondering if I'm going after her boss!_"

It was quite amusing to her, after all she had only actually _seen_ this mysterious Mr. North once, and it had been dark and she had been nearly unconscious. Of course, Iris didn't know that and she probably assumed that a pretty young girl, a distant relation from American even, coming to his home probably portended an engagement of some sorts. Shego thought about crafting an answer that would be a little snarky, but there was something in the woman's eyes that held her at bay. She could sense concern there and perhaps something more.

"_Maybe she's in love with him?_"

With that thought she made up her mind to tell the truth.

"Actually no, I don't. I've lived a romance free life."

Iris looked like she wanted to say something to Shego, but begged off and Shego was content to leave it alone. This line of conversation had a dangerous tendency to bring things out into the light that she didn't really want to reflect upon, so she was pleased when the carriage stopped and the driver announced that they were at their destination.

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly, there were no uncomfortable conversations and much to Shego's delight quite a bit of shopping. What made it even more of a delicious experience was that the purchases were made with someone _else's_ money. The clothing, she decided, was not quite as bad as she had first thought. Most pieces were conservative, but the material was surprisingly light and the "party dress" that was forced upon her at Iris's insistence was nearly diaphanous in it's appearance with a plunging neck that reminded her vaguely of a Greek toga. Iris assured her it was all the style in Paris.

There was only one miss-step, when a shopkeeper suggested a red velvet number. Shego was having a lot of fun and probably would have even bought the red dress if she didn't know for a fact that anything red on her made her resemble a Christmas ornament. Of course like many things in Shego's life, just as she was starting to have a little fun something terrible happened.

"Come _on_ dear! It's not tight enough!" grunted Iris as she attempted to draw back the strings on the infernal contraption.

Shego thought she was just starting to get a hang of early 19th century fashions when she came face to face with her worst nightmare – a strange and oddly hairy man who according to Iris, was a _corsetière_.

Shego's waist was valliantly struggling against the man's latest invention.

"Iris… please…" Shego grunted inbetween trying to hold her stomach in. She idly wondered why she was even _pretending_ to go along with the woman. Reluctantly she concluded that it was probably because this was the absolute first time in her life she had ever gotten to do "girl stuff" with another living female.

"I'm just trying to make you look pretty dear. You know, you're very thin… almost willowy." Iris's voice trailed off and she regarded Shego as a lump of wet clay that she was intent to mold into perfection.

"I'm just a little underfed right now. Give me a month, I promise!" She didn't quite know exactly what she was promising, but at this point it didn't really matter.

Eventually they, or more accurately Iris, conceeded defeat and the issue of the full corset was dropped. The woman had actually stated, "I wasn't quite sure of that idea anyway," and left the matter at that. Shego concluded, thankfully, that the age of the 'wasp-waist' had not yet settled upon the fashion world and she was instead instructed to purchase several short garments that were refered to aptly enough as _short stays_. They looked almost, but not quite, like the more modern undergarments she was used to wearing and they admirably fulfilled the duty of keeping her "assets" in place. Evidently Iris had found that last phrase rather funny and much to Shego's chagrin it sent her off into a tittering laugh and a cry of, "Oh American humor!"

Later on that night after they had returned to the Richmond house and had what Shego would recall later was an excellent dinner, she was left alone in her apartment with her new purchases. She sat amidst the hats, shoes, dresses and confusing undergarments wondering exactly what it was that was bothering her.

"_When was the last time I even had my own clothes?_"

She moved a hand over the smooth material of one of the dresses she had bought and then almost impulsively she grasped it and brung it to her face, luxioriating in the feel of something against her skin that belonged to her. She wondered exactly how long she had been in the asylum and why she couldn't remember anything except vague glimpses of her life immediately before then. It was almost as if she was a person with two living histories, one where she was a menacing villain from the future and another where she was strangely confused and possibly a little crazy. The time between the two lives, the bridge if you will, was a dark and confusing gap in her memory.

"_I'm not crazy, he told me as much, didn't he?_"

Her mind drifted back to the letter that she had reluctantly destroyed just a few nights ago. The post script was a simple three word rejoinder, "You're not crazy", and it had lifted her spirits like nothing had in months. She wanted to hold onto that letter, keep it close on her body and use it as a talisman to ward off the dark thoughts that kept creeping into her head. It was only the serious tone in the note that had kept her from doing so and eventually forced her to render the letter to the fire. She regretted it, but she felt that she had little choice.

Almost impulsively she stripped off her borrowed clothes and then stood exposed in front of the full-length mirror that had just tonight been moved into her boudoir. She tossed her head back and watched her newly shortened hair flip a little to the side and then paused for a moment to take in the full reality of her nudity. She had mixed feelings about her body, once so strong and full figured, now thin and emaciated. She had long, long ago decided she hated the green freak that she had become and it wasn't until now, when she was so far removed from the old life that she had known, that she finally realized just how deeply she had internalized that feeling of self loathing.

Now that her once glamorous figure had wasted away and her luxurious hair had been shorn, she saw herself in all her twisted glory. There was nothing left _but_ the green freak that she had come to hate. Finally she turned her gaze away from the mirror. She didn't know how, but life had given her second chance. Maybe she didn't deserve it, in fact most people would probably loudly decry the very idea of a villain like her receiving any sort of reprieve, but she didn't care what they thought.

She had paid for it. Paid for it in torment, agony, humiliation and madness.

She draped her arms through the sleeves of her smooth linen chemise and then looked again in the mirror.

It wasn't perfect, but for perhaps the first time she didn't hate what she saw.

She continued dressing and she did so with an urgency that was similar to a warrior girding themselves for battle. Eventually she finished and was clad in a white ensemble with black ribbons laced through a square and somewhat revealing neckline. She sat on her bed and looked at herself in the mirror while she slipped her stocking clad feet into a pair of flat black shoes and then she rose to her full height.

No, it wasn't perfect, but it was something she could work with.

She locked her image's gaze with her own and stared deep into the green eyes of her reflection. Somewhere deep inside, a fire that had nearly been extinguished was kindled back to brightness. It was a shadow really of what it had been before, but it had somehow managed to survive. Shego opened her mouth, almost hesitantly and then the words materialized in the air.

"Bellatrix North."

A new name, for a new woman.

-

A/N: I hope people enjoyed this chapter. I keep neglecting my other works in order to keep writing this story, it just had a hold of me that much. I hope people are enjoying it so far, and I'm happy that I've gotten so many great reviews. But hey, even if you don't have anything good to say please drop me a line, I like hearing all sorts of criticism so long as it helps me become a better writer.

So, is it glaringly obvious what happened to Ron Stoppable now? I've gotten a PM from a reader who managed to guess it before this chapter was published, but there is enough hints in here for people to generally figure out the most basic premise of the story, but only a few hints dropped on a more complex matter. I'm sorry if I'm sounding obtuse, but there is a major plot point that will be revealed in a chapter or two from now that I hope people will enjoy and also shed some light into the situation.

I feel bad that "Mr. North" got so little air time in this chapter, clocking in at just a little bit under half of the total written words, however I felt like I really needed to do some work on Shego. I wanted to show how she was trying to adapt to her life and the opportunities that being literally hundreds of years away from her notorious identity would represent. I always figured Shego for a pretty lonely person – after all, seemingly the only person she talks to on a regular basis is a deranged bloviating madman (wow, MS-Word doesn't think 'bloviating' is a word – Screw you Bill Gates!) and she's completely estranged from her family. She probably talks more to Kim and Ron when she's fighting them than anyone else that we know of! So I wanted to give her a chance, a second chance even, to throw away the identity that makes her so unapproachable and to make a friend in Iris – even if they may end up butting heads a little later on, check the foreshadowing out on that one!

So anyway how is the Shego sympathy meter doing? Have I managed to win anyone who was wavering over to he side? I think it's probably at about a 8 or 9 here myself and I'm satisfied with that unless someone gives me a good reason why she hasn't suffered enough. I think she's probably gotten nailed hard enough (bad pun, bad pun) so I've been trying to bring her slowly back from the wreck that she was in and show how her situation is affecting her personality. Nothing too profound yet of course – this is a Rongo story after all so Mr. Stoppable is going to have help her out a fair bit while they rush towards the finish line.

Also, don't expect any Kim/Rufus/Future bits for a couple of chapters. There is a definite mini-arc in the wings but not until we catch up more with developments in the 19th century.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Working It Out

Shego, or Bellatrix, as she was more often referring to herself these days in her private monologues, was languidly resting in the warm waters of her bath. The process of filling the tub was a laborious one involving a heavy iron pump and quite a lot of physical exertion but the end results were far worth it. Evidently showers had yet to be invented and most people didn't take full baths frequently during the winter months, a fact that sent a mild shiver of revulsion down her spine when she discovered it. She was adamant that no matter where, or more appropriately, when she was living, she would _always_ take a regular bath.

She stretched out her legs as far as they could go and marveled at how weeks of steady meals and little exercise had demonstrated such a profound change on her physique. When she had first entered under the care of her mysterious benefactor, or at least his employees, she had been little more than a tight drum of skin wrapped over bones, but now she looked positively… well, fat would be going too far. She put her arms under her breasts and squeezed herself in a hug.

"_Hello girls, I missed you!_"

She was happy. Her curves had come back - and with a vengeance.

While she was pleased that she _looked_ healthy, she knew that deep down inside it was only a passing thing. She was getting little exercise and the last time she had actually trained… well it was longer than she could remember. The situation looked grim because she had discovered that while Molly cooked wholesome and delicious meals, the entire concept of "low fat" was lost on her. It seemed that she would have to take drastic measures if she didn't want to swell up like a hippo. This resolution seemed innocent enough to her at the time, but led her to an interesting discussion.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean Miss Bella," stated the seemingly oblivious Iris.

"Well, I'm getting a little… plump. I was looking for some place where I could do some… physical exertion." Shego drawled, not really paying attention to her words.

Iris just blushed at her.

It took Shego a moment to understand what was going on and when she figured it out, she blushed too.

"No! Not like that! You know, a place to run or swim or ride a bicycle…" Shego was having a hard time explaining the very concept of exercise, it seemed so blatantly obvious to her fitness obsessed 21st century mind.

"Bicycle?" asked Iris, slightly bemused, obviously the word was lost on her.

Shego was about to give up in frustration and she muttered under her breath, "Great, no gym's here in the 19th century."

Iris caught part of her sentence and asked, "A Jim? Is that a person?"

That was the last straw for Shego and she collapsed back into her divan. "Oh a gymnasium I suppose, but I doubt you have one of those either…"

"Of course we do." Iris stated, rather matter-of-factly.

"You do?" Shego puzzled and thought maybe she was just having communication problems – it was something to look into later.

"Yes, well I assume what you're asking for is what we have. I'm not really sure myself, it was a room that Master North added to the estate when he took possession of it. He called it, 'My gymnasium Iris, I need a place to work it out!'"

"Work it out? Are you sure he didn't say, work out?" Shego asked, her interest obviously piqued.

"It could have been. I have to confess I don't really understand a quarter of the things Master North says, I suppose the mind of a man of such great genius is quite beyond my reckoning." Iris looked a little bashful when she talked about her employer and it wasn't lost on Shego who gave the woman a sly smirk.

"_Wow, she's got it bad… I wish I had been more awake when I first got here, I wonder what he looks like?_"

"Iris, could you show me this room?"

"Of course, Master North has given you the full run of the estate."

And with that a few minutes later Shego stood before what was certainly the oddest collection of "exercise equipment" she had ever seen.

"Wow…" she said, rather overwhelmed by the situation.

"Indeed, this is actually the first time I have been in here. I'm rather surprised myself. What do you suppose all this is?" Iris was looking at a strange contraption of pulleys and weights that was attached to the wall.

Shego looked around for a moment and was easily able to recognize several of the items. There were various free-weights, punching bags, vaulting horses and other simple equipment that you might find in a high school gym. There were even a series of rings hanging from supports in the ceiling, obviously meant for acrobatics. It was as if she had stepped right into a History Channel presentation of ancient exercise equipment. She eyed the contraption that Iris was investigating and dubiously wondered if it had even been _invented_ yet.

"This is what I was talking about earlier… exercise equipment. It keeps you fit."

Iris just looked blankly at Shego as if she was considering her words, "I suppose you're Mr. North's cousin so you would know all about this. It must be an American activity I haven't heard about yet."

Shego just nodded at the older woman and stared at the vaulting horse; she hadn't seen one of these in years. Without warning she kicked off her shoes and started to rapidly approach the horse in her stocking clad feet. She reached out with her hands, found purchase upon the objects flat back and for the first time in nearly a year went completely vertical, her skirts trailing in the air, as she traversed over the vault in a forward motion. She pushed off at the apex of her arc, executed a half turn and landed, rather clumsily, on her feet. The skirt of her dress had billowed out upon her turn and slowly it closed, like the reverse motion of a flower blooming.

"_That was… terrible._"

There was a soft clapping behind her and a call of, "Well done! Well done!" from the sole member of her audience.

"_Well, at least she was entertained._"

"Ms. Bella, you wouldn't perchance be a tumbler or an acrobat would you? My father took me to see some traveling ones from Italy when I was a girl and that's exactly what you reminded me of just then." Iris was practically beaming with enthusiasm.

"Well… something like that."

Shego barely had time to stop Iris from calling to kitchen for the maids to come witness what she called "an astounding feat of acrobatic dexterity" before a nagging detail she had forgotten about came to her mind.

"_I doubt they have spandex or sweat suits in the 19th century._"

She shook her head and asked Iris to please leave her alone for an hour while she "practiced her acrobatics". Once she was gone, Shego got down to brass tacks and assessed the situation. Her clothes were not the optimal choice for what she wanted to do and given Iris's response to the last time she asked for some pants, she didn't want to bother the woman again. Still, while the idea of exercising in the buff _did_ hold some naughty appeal to her, she didn't want anyone walking in on her that way either.

So, with that decided she did the next best thing. She removed her dress and tied her shift up at her waist like it was an oversized t-shirt. Her bloomers were already like long pajama bottoms, cutting off just inches above her ankles, so they posed little problem. Once she was certain she had the entire affair tied down securely she decided it was passable enough until she could find something better and got down to work.

What had started out at an hour quickly turned into two and then three. She was nearly exhausted when Iris came in to call her for dinner, but she felt good – better than she had in a long time. She was still weak, that much was obvious, and she was dreadfully out of practice, but her muscle memory was still there and after she was warmed up she found that she could still effortlessly recall her martial arts katas with little difficulty.

She passed on dinner, called it a night and retreated to her bath. It was a good start, but she knew that it would take far longer than she liked for her to get back into peak shape, even more so without anyone to spar against.

Her days were mostly spent as above – exercising, resting, bathing, a little diversion here and there for some literature (although she had to admit that she had found it slow going at first to decipher what seemed to be almost an alien language in print) and occasionally little walks outside in the winter air where she was always bundled up. Iris would often go on these walks with her and it was during these times that the friendship she had struck up with the woman had deepened. She was reluctant to admit it, but at 25 years of age she had probably made her first real friend.

She remembered North's insistence that she make friends with the jolly red haired woman, Molly, but for some reason she seemed reluctant to do so. It wasn't that she was hard to talk to, or unapproachable, it was just that… she was afraid of her. North had inferred that Molly _knew_ something, perhaps something about her and there was a great deal of trepidation on her part over the matter. It was almost as if she was afraid that if she spent too long examining the little world that she currently lived in, that it would shatter apart like a broken dream. She wasn't sure her battered psyche could handle that and she resolved that if ever the matter would come up, it would have to be broached by the red haired chef first – Shego would rather let sleeping dogs lie, at least for the moment.

Still through all of this there was little word from the mysterious Mr. North. He seemed to keep a regular correspondence with his solicitor, a Mr. Fornsby, and through him occasionally came letters addressed to Iris that she would read aloud to the assembled staff of the Richmond estate. Shego was always present for these missals and for the most part they were merely little snippets of information that read like a cross between a travel itinerary and a hallmark greeting card.

The weeks passed on and in this way so did Christmas and soon after that the New Year. It was past the middle of January in 1807 when Iris came to Shego while she was exercising to deliver some news.

"Excuse me Miss Bella…" the woman's voice trailed off almost as soon as she had opened the door to Mr. North's gymnasium.

Shego had made much progress over the last few weeks in terms of her physical rehabilitation and just as Iris had entered the room she was in the middle of a complicated martial arts kata that ended with her doing a rather large and flourishing spinning kick directly to one of the punching bags that North had set up about the room. The force of the blow was so strong that the sand within the bag actually vibrated _outwards_ from its resin soaked linen cage, leaving a visible trail of strata in the air.

"Iris?" asked Shego as she smoothed out her improvised training uniform – she was still wearing her bloomers but had replaced the long shift with a shorter one that she had butchered with a pair of scissors so it looked like a pajama top.

"Ah yes…" the woman clearly had a bemused look on her face, and didn't say much as she strode over to Shego and placed a crème colored envelope in her hand.

"This is for you, it arrived with a package of letters for Mr. Fornsby. It's from your cousin," and with that statement Iris left the room, shaking her head and closing the doors behind her.

Shego could barely contain herself as she looked at the elegant script on the front of the letter that proclaimed, "_Ms. Bellatrix North_". The envelope was sealed with wax and she used the nail of her thumb to separate the folds and then removed the letter inside.

_Dearest Cousin,_

_I am sorry for not writing sooner, but I have been engaged in a strenuous endeavor that has taxed my vitae to the limit. I am unable to communicate to you the exact nature of this project, but once I return to my estate I shall be more than happy to discuss it, as well as any other matters both friendly and pressing. _

_I shall be returning to Richmond by an overland route and expect to arrive on, or about the 20th of January. I look forward to seeing you then._

_I am sure you have many questions for me and I promise you I will have at least a few answers._

_Respectfully, _

_Timothy North_

She read the letter twice and then flipped it over, scouring it for yet another hidden postscript but finding none. Eventually she threw the letter down on the floor, stared at it for a minute and then picked it back up. She was fuming a little, but it was more from frustration than anything else.

"_Always so cryptic! I have been here for months now and I have yet to talk to him face to face and this is the first letter I have received after I was told he was returning straight away. This is so frustrating – I am beginning to feel like a kept woman!_"

She snickered a little bit to herself at the last comment. Perhaps when she had first arrived here that would have been a proper description of her behavior and her actions, but now that she had weeks to rest and recuperate, much of her old fire and spirit had returned. She still was weakly dealing with the emotional scars from her captivity at the insane asylum, but recently as her body had began become more in tune with her mind, she had found the nightmares decreasing. It was almost as if her spirit had forgiven her body for being so weak and she had started to learn to love the simple feeling of her flesh again.

She looked at the date in the letter again and then did a mental calculation and a most un-ladylike thought came to her.

"_Shit that's today!_"

For an instant, a strange panic overcame her and it caused her heart to leap. She calmed down just as fast and then silently berated herself.

"_Oh, that's ridiculous. I can't even remember his face, he could be an old geezer for all I know and here I am acting like a crushing teenager._"

She started to gather her clothes as she continued to think.

"_I mean, sure he rescued me from an insane asylum. And yes, he brought me to his home and gave me money, clothes, servants and… oh God here I go again, I'm sounding as bad as Iris and I haven't even met the man yet._"

She changed her shift and hastily dressed, cursing herself for her nervous fingers. Making sure that everything was at least somewhat in its proper place she rushed through the door and nearly bowled over a waiting Iris.

"Miss Bella!" the startled woman exclaimed.

Shego was momentarily brought to her senses by the embarrassing encounter. She knew that the nervous excitement in her face would be an easy read for her new friend and it was more than a little humiliating.

"Sorry, Iris but I have to hurry…" she left unsaid the word's she was thinking, "_because he's coming!_" but Iris seemed to take everything in stride.

"I know dear, I've had your bath drawn and something pretty laid out on your bed. I'm sure you're very excited to see your _cousin_ again," replied Iris.

Shego actually missed the slight intonation of the word "cousin" and because of this the almost imperceptible tone of jealousy in Iris's voice went unnoticed by her. She also missed the slightly dismayed and sad look the older woman had on her face, as she nearly skipped up the stairs to her rooms - not that she would have cared much in the state of mind she was in.

As she hurriedly threw the doors of her apartment wide, she was mentally telling herself that tonight was _no big deal _and that she was acting stupid and childish. However in her heart, she was remembering the one time she had met the enigmatic Mr. Timothy North and the feeling she had from when he had wrapped his warm coat around her body and raised her up in his arms like an angel delivering her from Hell.

Even Shego's caustic side had to admit, things like that could have an effect on a girl.

-

The man who was known as Timothy North clutched his wounded side in agony as the carriage he was riding in bounced and jostled around. After the success in France he had moved on to Belgium to meet with some confederates and then on to Brussels where he ran into his first real trouble on New Years day.

It was a stupid thing he lamented, he had after all, actually _known_ that the assassin was laying in wait for him. He had defeated the man at least a half dozen times that he could recall but for some reason this time he was distracted, his head lost in the clouds and it had nearly cost him his life. He considered himself lucky to even be returning to Richmond alive at this point, the Thugee's katar had barely been inches away from impaling him in the chest, it was only the forewarning in the back of his mind and his superior reflexes that saved him.

Gingerly he touched the side of his wound and wondered if it would have any effect on his London endeavors. He could always call upon some of his associates if he was in dire need, but when it came to direct confrontations with his enemy he always preferred to be on the scene himself.

"_If she's recovered enough then maybe I could send her in my stead. If she won't do it out of gratitude, she probably will out of greed. She always was rather mercenary, otherwise how could you explain her working for that idiot for all those years?_"

He idly thought that even if he couldn't buy her loyalty, he could perhaps motivate her in other ways. His old self would probably have never had the thought, but such plotting and threats came as a second nature to his assumed personality of Mr. North. Several life times of struggling against destiny would do that to a man.

North reached out to the stack of newspapers to his right and began to shuffle through them looking for something. They were in a way part of his secret weapon against his enemy, the one real edge that he had to make up for the head start that he always had on him in their little game of world domination. The papers were the way he kept his memory for dying whenever he did.

He didn't know how many lives he had already lived by the time he discovered the secret of the papers and knowing how naïve and slow he had been when he had first stumbled into this nightmare he shuddered to think of how long he had _really_ been trapped. It was a frightening idea – he had known of at least twelve iterations of this cycle where he had retained his memories at his rebirth and extrapolating from that number he reckoned the entire number of years of his exile counted amongst the hundreds. It was a sobering thought.

The answer had come to him quite accidentally. For some reason in his existence at the time he had been living as an aesthetic in China for nearly thirty years. It was a good life, one that he enjoyed, but he could never shake the feeling that he wasn't doing what he was supposed to. He was the Sifu to many students and his name was known far and wide, respected even, he was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar and people traveled to him from all over the world for both training and enlightenment. He should have been satisfied, but he was not.

On top of a hill that over looked his school he was meditating on a breezy summer day when he opened his minds eye and was greeted with a vision that shook him to his core – standing in front of him was a creature that walked like a man, but looked like a monkey. He was wearing the red clothes of a master and in his hand was a stout staff of cherry colored wood that he had slammed into the ground, causing it to shake.

"_Sōn Wukong!" _he shouted in his mind and bowed low to the divine monkey king.

The Monkey king looked at the prostrate monk once and then strode over to him, taking a sitting position just inches away from his head.

"_Today you shall call me Qitiān Dasheng. Face me._"

Ron, as the Sifu was known only to himself, lifted his head from the ground and looked into the face of the Monkey that had just declared himself the "great sage equal of Heaven." He knew that today, the Monkey King would be there to teach and he eagerly awaited instruction.

"_What is it you desire Sifu?_" he said to the Monkey King.

"_Your mind and body are in perfection, there is harmony between them but not in your heart. Tell me why this is?_"

Ron took a moment to contemplate what answer the deity was looking for and then merely stated, "_I do not think I am fulfilling my purpose._"

The Monkey King looked deeply into Ron's eyes, as if he was trying to discern some deeper hidden secret.

"_What then, is your purpose?_" he eventually asked.

He struggled for an answer. He knew deep down inside that he had forgotten something, something important about himself. He wanted so desperately to reach down into his mind and come up with an answer to placate the Monkey King, but he couldn't find any. Eventually he gave up in defeat.

"_I do not know,_" he dejectedly replied.

The Monkey King nodded, seeming to accept this answer from Ron and then he reached out one paw and placed the tip of a finger against his forehead.

"_Let me show you how to remember._"

And with that, Ron Stoppable died of a massive heart attack.

It was of course, much to his surprise that he woke up on the cold stone floor of a shrine. He raised his head and stretched his arms and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then almost magically, a small statue of a monkey came into focus.

"_How? How am I here?_"

He looked down at his body and saw for the first time that thirty years of age had fallen off him like water off a ducks back. He was astounded because despite the recollection of a lifetime already lived; he was back exactly where he had started. It was the place where he had originally woken up at after being blasted into quarks at the Middleton Space Science Center.

The monkey seemed to grin at him.

It was confusing, he was very sure that he had not imagined the last thirty years of his life, it had after all seemed so very real to him and he could still sense the fear in his mind at recalling the heart attack that had gripped his body just moments ago. Yes, it was real – far too real to be just a delusion.

It wasn't until the second time he died, this time at sea, that he started to fully understand what had happened. He laid there on the same stone floor that he had woken up on twice before, sputtering and trying to force phantom water from his lungs. Slowly he came to his senses and took in his surroundings and just like last time, the monkey was grinning at him.

He slowly began to recall vivid memories of a life just lived. He had been chasing Fiske across the sea from Asia to Europe. It was a startling discovery, but perhaps one not totally unexpected, that Monkey Fist had also been sent back in time. He wondered how he had managed to miss the subtle tells of his presence in the world before, but then he realized that his rustic life as an aesthetic had kept him from watching current events closely enough to see the hand of his nemesis. And what a nemesis he was too, always seeming to escape at the last moment or having plots that were too difficult to unravel. The two of them had knowledge of things that were yet to pass in this world but it was evident to Ron that Monkey Fist had been a much better student of history than him. It was then that he realized just what exactly the Monkey King had given him.

He had given him a weapon to strike back at his enemy.

From that day forward Ron Stoppable was a voracious reader of the news and books. It was a compulsive habit and one that after several life times he found that he could not break even when he knew for sure what the headline of a paper would read before he even picked it up. The papers acted as an external memory for him of sorts. If he saw an event in the paper, then he instantly knew where in time he was and what was going on in the world and what, if anything, his enemy had put his hand into. He remembered with a little bit of embarrassment all of the times he had complained to Kim in high school about how History class was so useless. The irony was almost unbelievable. However he also remembered something else, something that Mr. Barkin would say to him whenever he complained.

"_Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it._"

Unfortunately for Ron, he would be repeating history quite a bit.

As his carriage drove up the winding road to his estate he realized that this was the twelfth time since the Monkey King had opened his mind that he had been reborn into the world. Some of those times he had been alive for only a scant few years before he made a drastic mistake, other times he lived for decades until eventually old age or his enemies plans defeated him. He recalled with a certain smug sense of satisfaction that Monkey Fist's plans were almost _always_ the same and it gave him quite a bit of confidence. It seemed that only he, Ron Stoppable, had the ability to remember his mistakes and then right them.

And boy had he made a lot of mistakes, twelve lifetimes worth to be exact.

Still, although his personality had changed somewhat due to what he had experienced he never seemed to lose his swaggering optimism and determination. He knew that he could take as long as he needed to defeat Fiske, because although every time he failed, reality was destroyed – he always found himself rebooting to that same remote shrine in China with that damnable statue smirking at him. Sure the Monkey King had helped him out, but he knew well enough that Wukong was also a trickster who enjoyed nothing more than a good laugh.

His carriage had pulled up to his front door and waiting for him on the steps were several servants who went about carrying away his luggage. He had half expected _her_ to also be there, but then again he had no reason for such a hope. He knew how she was and it was only out of guilt and self-interest that he had rescued her this time. He wanted to keep her away from Fiske and if possible use her as a weapon against him. He idly wondered if her very presence in this time iteration was the key that would eventually grant him victory over Fiske. He resolved to himself that even if it weren't, he would make plans on the next time through to pick her up before she could be sent to the insane asylum. As much as he had tried to hide it, it had bothered him greatly to see his once proud enemy reduced to such a pathetic creature.

"_Well Ron, that wasn't the first time you've seen Shego in such a mess. At least that bastard Winslow sold her to you this time and she didn't have to die._"

It was a secret that he held in his heart and one that he felt sure that he could never tell Shego, even if she eventually became aware of what was going on. Once Ron had discovered that Monkey Fist had been sent back in time along with him, he had started to also look for the green skinned villain. He had found out through various sources that Fiske was looking for her and he felt for sure that allowing the two of them to team up was something that he couldn't handle. Fiske already had a huge advantage over Ron due to the fact that he had been sent back 5 years earlier and hence had much more time to establish a foothold before their contest began – allowing Shego to assist him would be tantamount to suicide.

So it was in this way that yet another new game in the myriad games that he played with his enemy was started. The two of them sent out agents in the world looking for Shego, trying to find any rumors of her and her remarkable appearance with the hopes of snatching her up before the other did. It was on this very last iteration of the time loop that Ron had finally heard of a rumor of a green skinned woman that lived in the seediest slums of London. He was excited at first, thinking that he had finally beat his enemy to a key to the puzzle and so with great haste he rode down to the address he was given.

When he arrived his feeling of excitement quickly turned to one of dread. The neighborhood he was in was a bad one, he knew that much off the top of his head, but the building he was approaching was a place that a gentleman like him would be loathe to be seen at – even if he didn't have to keep up appearances, his inner personality of Ron would never be caught dead in a brothel. Unfortunately that was the address he was given for Shego.

"_Oh how low has she fallen? I wonder if she'll be of any use at all…_"

Some money was exchanged and he was led to a small room in the back where he finally got the answer to his question. There was Shego all right, half clothed and half insane. Ron took one look at her and knew what had struck her down – syphilis.

He had her moved from that house and into a small cottage where she was made comfortable and left to die. It was only after much investigation and quite a bit of money that he had managed to piece together at least some of her story. It seemed that she had entered the time line some years after he had, and hence managed to escape notice by both him and Fiske. However she had been either arrested or interred someplace, possibly for resuming her criminal career. Eventually she was released, broken and in poor health. She ended up in dire straits. Some pimp had probably taken a notice of her beautiful features and good teeth and decided to whore her out for a quick pence.

Ron reminded himself that such events had not yet come to pass; indeed they were from his memory, seven years in the future. What had happened instead was that for some unknown reason he had decided to skip his usual warm breakfast and leave early for work which had led to a chain of events so fortuitous that it could only be described as dumb luck – or dumb skill as he was fond of saying. He had never been one to believe in fait accompli and his experience reliving the past had shown him that things could change, sometimes in the most astounding of ways.

He threw his papers to his drive and gathered his great coat around himself to make the small trip from the carriage to his own front door. Once inside he felt the refreshing warmth that he had so missed on his long journey and dusted some snow from his hat. Most of the staff was present, including Iris standing at attention like always, but alas _she_ had not decided to make an entrance. He let out a long sigh and then smiled, stating simply, "Well, I'm home."

-

"Ms. Bella please hurry, dinner is about to be served and the Master is waiting for you in the dining room!" came the mute complaints of Iris from behind the thick wooden door.

Shego sighed and brushed her hair one last time.

"_Wow I'm acting like a teenager, what's gotten into me? For all I know he's a nice, but very old man…_"

Suddenly a disturbing thought came to her.

"_What if he wants something from me?_"

There were very few things that Shego had with which to barter with Mr. North, especially in the face of his seemingly colossal wealth. She resolved that if he tried to pressure her into some sort of arraignment in return for his kindness, she'd take the papers that she had already retrieved from his desk and flee at the first opportunity. If everything in that note was on the up and up then she would be set for quite a while and even if it wasn't… well she had recovered quite a bit of her former fitness over the last months and it wouldn't be too hard for her to resume her old career. In fact, without electronic alarms, police radios and Kim Possible, it might be down right easy.

That thought actually made her sad. For the first time since she was a pre-teen she had actually managed to make a friend, maybe even a couple. Also she had somehow been able to throw off her old identity that had hung around her neck like a thousand pound weight. She realized blithely that she didn't really enjoy being Shego at all. That name had been pinned to her for so long that she had often forgot that she used to have another name, the name of a simple middle school girl who hung out with her friends, liked to watch the Oh Boyz on MTV and had a soft spot for puppies. She could probably never go back to being that little girl ever again, but right now she was thinking that she didn't really want to have to go back to being Shego either. She _liked_ being Bella, even if it was a lie.

She fidgeted one last time as she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress that Iris had chosen for her was a slim and sheer ivory number that Shego thought would be more at home in 2007 than 1807. She had even thought that maybe it was a little too risqué for her first dinner with her mysterious benefactor. Iris however had squashed that idea. She had firmly stated that the dress was in a style that was all the rage in Paris and that Mr. North being the cultured man he was would certainly know that.

"_Oh well I suppose that's good enough, I'm just having dinner… in the house I've been living in for the last couple of months. It's not like I'm going out on a date…_"

As she walked out of her apartment and down the stairs towards the dining room she finally had managed to settle her nerves. She had convinced herself that no matter what happened, she would figure out a way to take care of herself and that this Mr. North fellow was just as likely to be a kindly, grandfatherly type as some demented molester.

Both images were quickly thrust out of her mind as she entered the dining room and saw the man in question rise from his seat at her presence. She was so stunned that she almost forgot that she was supposed to sit down.

"Ah, hello Bellatrix… glad you could join us for dinner. Please have a seat." The man motioned to a chair that was opposite of him on the mahogany dining table.

Gradually she came to her senses and started to move again.

"Just call me Bella please," she said offhandedly as she found her seat.

Mr. Timothy North smiled at her and took his own seat.

"_Figures, she keeps the name I gave her but changes it to be her own. Ah… here it comes, she's looking at me…_"

He was dreading what he was sure was next to come. Maybe he should have waited and introduced himself to her after dinner, when they were alone and no one else would be around to bear witness to what was sure to be quite the scene.

Bellatrix North stared at the man that had pretended to be her cousin. To say she was surprised would not be quite right. To say she was shocked would again be stretching it a little long. To say that she was intrigued… well that would be a fair bit closer to the mark.

"_He's much younger than I was imagining him… probably just in his thirties._"

She mused that his face seemed kind and his eyes were soft, they didn't look at her with any harshness or even lust. That was a relief; she didn't quite know how she would respond to either of those feelings from him. She had grown to love her life here in Richmond and was holding out hope that it could continue at least for a little while longer.

"_I could do without the beard… and those sideburns! Still, he has a nice smile and I can tell from here that he uses that exercise equipment a lot. Not too bad actually, I can see why Iris is smitten with him. He's rich, generous, kind, fit and handsome…_"

Mr. North clearing his throat rather loudly brought her out of her reverie.

"Um… hello to you too… Tim… er… Timothy," she was tripping over her words in part due to the awkwardness of the fake familiarity between them as well as little bit of shyness at the realization that the enigmatic Mr. North was quite handsome.

"Ah… I had asked; how have you enjoyed your stay here at Richmond?" replied Mr. North with an amused look on his face.

Bella/Shego thought for a moment, trying to cast about for an answer that would seem noncommittal yet grateful. She was indeed grateful but didn't want to send this gentleman any wrong signals. In just a matter of moments he had become a much more dangerous proposition than the older man she was expecting.

Ron Stoppable, also known as Timothy North, stared intently at the woman across the table from him who had at one point in time been his enemy and idly wondered if she would be so again. A twist of fate had brought her to his attention and it seemed that he had rescued her just in the nick of time. He had no idea what sort of depravations she had endured during her imprisonment at Bethlehem Royal, but he was glad to see that it seemed that she had made almost a full recovery. In fact, if he didn't know better, he would say she was looking positively plump these days. Not fat, but definitely a little hippy and fuller up top.

"_Not bad, not bad at all._"

She responded to his inquiry with some drabble that he didn't really listen to and then directed the conversation towards his sudden trip on the night of her arrival, leaving out of course nearly everything of any substance that could hint at what he had truly been doing. All the while he was talking to her he was looking deep into her eyes, hunting for some trace…

Shego continued to chat lightly with the handsome man that sat across from her. He had a strong sense of diction that reminded her of a Shakespearian actor and his voice was quite pleasant to listen to. She would have actually been enjoying herself quite a bit if only he hadn't been staring at her so intently. It made her nervous. It made her confused. She hoped that she wouldn't have to do something that she would regret later and she told herself that no matter what, she could take care of herself. It was almost an act of defiance on her part when she decided that two could play at that game and she locked his gaze with her own.

It was a contest of wills – brown eyes versus green, and it was a contest with an unusual outcome and two distinct reactions. Much to her chagrin, Shego was the first person to make a move. For some reason she couldn't comprehend she actually _blushed_ when North had complimented her on her dress. It was a small thing and lasted only a moment, but the damage was done.

Ron caught the blush and broke out in a huge grin. First of all, it was the first time he had _ever_ seen Shego blush – and it was highly amusing given her unusual skin coloration. Secondly the grin was more of a celebratory one than the seemingly shy villainess would have guessed.

The conversation died down as soon as the first course of the meal was brought to the table and while he was famished he couldn't believe his luck.

"_She doesn't recognize who I am!_"

This revelation was astounding and quickly his mind began to work out a plan that could take advantage of this fact.

-

Lord Montgomery Fiske stood before the elegant washbasin of his manor. Yes, he was a Lord now, having bought a peerage from the Crown with the profits of one of his many business endeavors. He looked at his scraggly visage in the silver mirror and noted that all though his hair was now shocked with grey, it provided a more distinguished appearance than he had hoped for. Slowly he brought the razor across his chin, it was something that he loathed doing, but there was no other way other for him to disguise his mutated nature to the world at large. His vaguely simian features were often over looked these days anyway, colossal sums of money hand a tendency to keep people's tongues in check.

He recalled how when he had first arrived in this world two decades ago he was distraught at the possibility of being trapped in such a backwards age, but then it dawned on him what a distinct opportunity this was. In this age there was no Kim Possible to thwart him, no Global Justice to chase him down and no Ron Stoppable to ruin his day. He thought that just perhaps, this time, fate had been kind to him. He took that idea and ran with it – to much success.

It had started out nearly moments after he had arrived. He found himself in a remote village in China, one where the peasants had barely even heard of the outside world and where their legends and myths still held sway. His monkey like appearance and his martial arts prowess had convinced many of the villagers that he was the Monkey King, _Sōn Wukong _and those that didn't believe were quickly put to death. Backed by his followers he took control of the small region of the country and quickly set about amassing a vast fortune on the backs of slave labor and the opium trade. Sooner, rather than later, the official government had come looking for him but by then he had turned most of his illegal profits into quite legal investments overseas and he was long gone.

From that moment on, Monty Fiske realized that there was _nothing_ in this world that could stop him. It would take some time, but eventually he would have everything he ever wanted… and more. Even now, only two decades into his plan, he controlled most of the world's wealth and commerce. In fact, there was only one other man on the entire planet that was even remotely competition for him and soon her would be taken care of as well.

Timothy North was a bit of a mystery. No one knew for sure how he had started his vast fortune, or how he had managed to always make the right deal at the right time, or how every investment he ever made always seemed to return gross profits. He was simply put, an incredible man and an incredible mystery. Fiske knew quite a bit about the man, probably more than most. He knew about his estate on the outskirts of the city, not too far from his own and knew that it was only a matter of time before he crushed him and took North's wealth for his own.

After all, despite his success in business Mr. North was just a man and a man that had no living relatives and no heir apparent for his vast business fortune. Without him to manage the helm, his businesses were sure to quickly fall into ruin and Fiske could pick them up to add to his own prodigious wealth. Once that happened, he would more or less own the entire world.

Owning the entire world had never really been a priority of Montgomery Fiske's, but it suddenly seemed to sound like a brilliant way to live ones life.

Patting his cheeks once, he reached for his cap and started to leave his apartments. Tonight was a bit of a rare occasion. He was going to meet with some gentlemen who had been undertaking an enormous project for him and he was eager to hear of their results. He had heard that there had been some set backs – a break in at a workshop, the mysterious death of a key scientist, the theft of some plans. All these things were annoyances, but alas annoyances that he couldn't allow to continue. He had worked far too long and too hard to allow victory to finally slip from his grasp.

As he walked down the stairs and to his waiting carriage he had a thought that made him break out with a smile.

"_Tempus Simia_."

He had just recently come into possession of the last piece of the mythical idol. If things went according to plans then Monkey Fist would soon not only be ruling over the Earth, but he would be doing it for a _very long time_.

-

A/N: Ha, I had to do it! What's a Monkey Fist time-travel story without the good old time monkey? I keep telling myself that I'm not going to write any more of this story until I write some more for my other ones, but I think I'm just being dragged along by the plot on this one, it's like I'm not even making it up, but instead like I'm just writing down something that has already happened – so weird!

What do people think of the role reversal between Ron and Shego? Shego is being a little vulnerable and sweet these days while Ron has turned into a calculating almost anti-hero. I thought it would be cool to contrast their two personalities like that and I wanted to do it in believable ways, I think I've succeeded for the most part.

Also for people who are having a hard time following all the time travel muckity mucky, here is a breakdown of what is going on:

1786 – Monkey Fist arrives in China.

1791 – Ron also arrives in China.

1806 – Shego arrives in England.

So their ages are exactly how they were in the first part of the story, but with added time to account from the difference between when they first arrived in the past and the current (story-wise) date. To make it short: Ron is 35 physically and Shego is 25, so yes – Ron is older than Shego. He's also probably a lot more mentally mature than she is as well; if you've paid attention to the story then you realize that Ron has lived through several distinct life times and keeps being reborn at 21 years of age in 1791. Think of that movie, Ground Hog Day and you'll be closer to understanding what's going on if you hadn't already figured it out.

Btw, since the cat is out of the bag – Timothy North was the name of the actor that played the Fearless Ferret, Ron's favorite T.V. show. I know some people got that from PM's I've gotten.

Hmm, I don't want to give away anything about what's coming up later so I'll just end my notes here.

Cheers,

QC

PS: Anyone else getting sick of all the Kigo stories on the front page? That's like my least favorite pairing next to Ron/Drakken and it isn't because I don't like hot lesbians. I am just getting booooooored with it. More Rongo kkplz thnx. Ron is like 10x the better character than Kim anyway, right? If you say "No", watch out for Monkey Ninjas... or ninja's with Monkey powers... well you get the idea.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Shego's Quaking Heart

Shego grunted a little bit as she launched a flurry of punches at the sand filled punching bag. North's contraption was much harder than the normally padded leather ones she had practiced with before and she had found that using it for any prolonged period of time had a brutal effect on her hands.

"_Hands… arms… breasts, ugh._"

Pretty much her entire upper body was in a state of varying degrees of soreness and there wasn't much she could do about it except stretch and hope a bath would alleviate most of the pain. She tossed a look at the door to the gymnasium and then decided to risk an embarrassing situation by reaching under the garment that kept her chest in place and starting to massage away some of the discomfort.

"_Yippie. No sports bras in the 19th century._"

It was one of the many things she was starting to miss about her own time period. When she had first come to be trapped in the early 1800's she had experienced just about as awful a situation as one could encounter and it had shocked her to her very core. She remembered lamenting her fate and wishing that she would die. Then, almost miraculously, she had been rescued by her mysterious benefactor and placed in a position on the opposite end of societies spectrum. She had to admit that during the first few weeks of her coming to be under the care of Iris and the staff at the Richmond estate she had felt a little bit like a princess from a fairy tale. The house was large and elegant and her apartments were beautiful and richly appointed and she had even made some friends for perhaps the first time since she was a little girl. Even the strange clothing she had been given seemed to have a magical effect on her, as by with draping herself in these ancient, yet new, garments she had transformed herself into an entirely different person.

Now however, some of the magic was starting to wear off. She still felt a tiny thrill every time she looked at herself in the mirror and a small and childish part of her brain took a great satisfaction in her situation, but the more cynical adult side of her wondered when exactly the fantasy would fall apart. She constantly reminded herself that no matter what she wore or where she lived, she was definitely _not_ an aristocratic lady and most certainly _not_ some beautiful princess in a fairy tale. For that to be true she would first need to have a prince and the only man around that fit that bill seemed to have absolutely no interest in her at all.

She didn't like to admit it, especially after her initial fears about his intentions, but it _was_ a little disappointing.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry I didn't realize you were in here… I'll return later." Timothy North was at the entrance to the gymnasium, fastidiously averting his eyes to some unknown point off in the distance.

Shego's hands stopped their work and she muttered, "Busted," under her breath, nearly missing the joke in her own pun.

"_Ok, here's my chance… he's been avoiding me for days now and I want to get some information out of him._"

Putting her hands down to her side and clenching her fists she started to speak, "It's ok. You can come in I was just using your…" she cast about for the correct word, "… equipment? I'm done anyway."

"_Not the smoothest work you've ever done._"

North seemed to ponder these words for a moment and then he shrugged his shoulders and turned around and shut the doors behind him. He was removing his waistcoat and placing it over a vaulting horse when, while still not looking directly at Shego, he said, "Oh if you say so, I just assumed you had your hands full…" He let his voice trail off.

He had his back turned to Shego so she couldn't see the huge grin on his face, or she might have actually been able to place the identity of the man. It took her a moment but finally she caught the meaning behind his words. Even though the "undergarments" she was wearing while she practiced were large enough to classify as pajamas, she suddenly felt _extremely_ exposed in front of the man. She started to move towards her discarded dress.

"You said… you said, you'd answer some questions I had." Shego had pulled her dress over her head at the end of that sentence and was nearly decent.

"Yes, I suppose I did say that didn't I? Actually I said I probably had _some_ answers for you, but not all. Regardless, ask away and I shall see what can be done." North was acting extremely nonchalant as he removed his shirt and placed it with his coat.

"_What to ask… Who are you? How do you know me? Who is it that's looking for me? Why is it dangerous?_"

She had turned around by now and was watching North go through some stretching exercises sans-shirt. The first thing she noticed was that he was rather built – lithe, but with a firmness that suggested a hint of overdevelopment. His muscles didn't bulge so much as they floated under his skin. The second thing she noticed was that he was sporting a large bandage wrapped around his abdomen that was crusted with blood on his left side. She instantly made up her mind on what question she wanted to ask.

"Are you hurt?" She was instantly upset that too much concern had accidentally seeped into that statement.

North just waved his hand at her and smiled.

"No, I'm fine. It's just a nick." He seemed to think for a moment and then continued with a wolfish grin, "Besides – I like to play _rough_."

"_Huh? Did he just… wink at me?_" Shego was more than a little confused. His behavior today was nothing like it had been more recently. She was a little flustered, but she had things that she needed to know. She wanted desperately to ask him why he had written, "_You're not crazy,_" on his initial letter to her – but she was worried about broaching the subject. What if he had meant it in a way such as, "You don't belong in that asylum" instead of "You're really from the future." It was a tricky situation for her and one that didn't seem to have any decent prospects. She decided to leave it be – for now.

"Do you know my name?" she inquired.

"You mean, Bellatrix? Or…" he left it hang in the air.

"I mean my _real_ name." Shego was obviously getting frustrated at North's way of turning answers into questions.

"No. No I don't," he replied. It was the truth, Ron had never actually learned Shego's real name – even when he had met her brothers in Go City.

"Besides", he continued, "What's so important in a name? A name is like a hat, you put it on and wear it about town and then you toss it on your floor when you go to bed. It doesn't mean much now does it?" North had ceased his stretching and was now facing off against one of his punching bags, eying it warily.

"_He's trying to say something to me… but he won't just come out and say it. I have to think of a better question_."

For a moment she had a nagging urge to threaten him like she used to threaten Drakken, but it was quickly pushed aside. She was trying to turn over a new leaf and bad habits weren't going to help her figure out her current predicament.

North seemed to wait for her to say something and then when she didn't, he started to pummel the bag in front of him like a professional boxer starting a morning workout. Shego was immediately glad that she hadn't decided to revert to prior form when she saw the speed and the force of his blows.

"_Nice hand work. Let's try this again…_"

"Why are you hiding me here?" she asked.

North paused in his assault and then turned to face her, wiping away a trace of sweat that had formed on his brow.

"That… was the correct question. I am indeed "hiding you" as you put it, and I am doing it simply because my _enemy_ wants to locate you. Now while this may sound like a pathetic little game between two men, I want to assure you that it was quite in your favor that I was the one who found you first. Lord Fiske is a powerful, but evil man. No doubt his intentions towards you are diabolical."

Ron had originally decided to leave any and all information about Monkey Fist out of any conversation he would have with Shego, but he underwent a change of heart since he had begun to realize that she had no clue who "Timothy North" was. So instead of trying to keep her in the dark and pacified in luxury, he had started a somewhat desperate bid to try to turn his two enemies against each other. When he dropped Fiske's name on Shego, her reaction was immediate and almost expected. Her face clouded up and she looked to be in deep thought.

"_Time to come up with the 'Big Lie', something so stupendously stupid that it could only be the truth._"

He swallowed grimly and began to let his plan unfold.

"You look like you know that name, do you? Lord Montgomery Fiske. He pretends to be a respectable businessman but in truth he's a monster."

Shego didn't know how to respond to the news that Monkey Fist also was in this era. What should she do? Should she contact him and try to form an alliance to see if they can get back home? Should she ignore him and set out on her own? If he was looking for her, then what did he want? She needed more information.

"No, that name isn't… familiar to me. What does he want with me?"

"_Interesting, first thing out of her mouth is a lie. She must be weighing her options. It was wise of me to conceal the truth, now let's see if she takes the bait._"

Ron looked at Shego directly in the eyes and approached within a foot of her.

"Please, calm yourself for what I am about to say may sound extremely bizarre but I swear to you it's the truth." He laid one of his large hands on Shego's shoulder in a false effort to "steady her". He was acting the part of the concerned Mr. North to the hilt.

"Fiske and I are competitors and we spy on each other constantly. One of my men discovered a plot of his to create some sort of device that would… now this may sound incredibly strange, but I swear it's true – a device that would let him travel into the future!" He finished off his last sentence with as much aplomb as he could muster and struggled mightily not to crack a grin at the audaciousness of his plan.

Shego's eyes perked up when Ron mentioned time travel. She herself had often wondered if there was any way for her to escape this century and return to her own, but not being a scientist or even remotely scientifically inclined she hadn't really known where to start. If Monkey Fist had access to a time travel machine…

Ron noticed the wheels in Shego's mind turning and he could guess what she was thinking.

"_She's probably already wondering how she can meet up with Fiske and return to the future with him. Time to close the trap._"

"Now, as shocking as that sounds the madman actually believes it's possible. My agent's weren't able to find out the particulars of his plan but they did manage to discover that he was looking for a specific person. This person, or so the notes that we acquired claim, has a certain energy about them and Fiske intends to use this energy to fuel his device."

The last sentence caught Shego's attention.

"And how does this involve me?" she softly inquired, still thinking.

"Well, I am not entirely sure but you did match the description of the person he was looking for. Now I have to admit, I could be wrong…" He feigned a little ignorance hoping it would lend credence to his huge lie.

Shego was still digesting the information, but eventually she asked the most important question on her mind, "What happens to the person that he wants to use?"

Ron faked a grieved look on his face and brought his voice down lower, "Oh I assumed it was obvious. They would die."

He let the word "die" hang in the air a little bit, before breaking contact with Shego's shoulder with a slight squeeze of his hand and returning to his position in front of his punching bag. It was a dirty trick and he knew it, it was very much a thing that Ron Stoppable would _never_ do. However Ron Stoppable had been to hell and back several times already so he pointedly decided to look the other way and let Timothy North handle his dirty work.

Noticing that Shego still hadn't responded yet to his last comment he took a tentative swing at the punching bag. It didn't take long for the sound to get her attention.

"North…" she started.

"Please, _Bella_ – call me Tim," he chuckled inwardly – two could play at that game.

"Tim… I just wanted to…."

Shego was struggling with the enormity of her situation. She knew, or at least highly suspected, that her cosmic powers were gone. Fiske however, would not be aware of such information so it would make sense for him to continue to pursue her. Even then, there was a high probability that Fiske would rather experiment on her than take her word about her missing powers. And what could she do against Monkey Fist in her current weakened state and without those same super powers? The reality was sobering; she would have to rely upon the continued benevolence of the man before her.

"Yes?", asked Ron. He was curious just how well his little pawn had fallen into his trap.

"I wanted to thank you. Sincerely. You've done a lot for more, more than I think anyone has in a long time," the words were hard for her to get out, but they came anyway. There was actually quite a great deal of emotion behind them, but she concealed it under a straight poker face.

"Any time Bella," replied Ron with a crooked grin.

"Oh and since you've asked _your_ question and heard my selfish answer, would you humor me with a question of my own?" asked Ron.

"Um… sure, I guess." Shego was afraid of the direction this might take.

"What the devil do you do in here in your bloomers?".

It was the second part of Ron's gambit, and he chose his words carefully to not give away that perhaps he knew more about "Bella" than he was pretending to. If he were to use her in his plans and pit her against Fiske, then he would have to capitalize on the one thing she was good at. Months of posh living at his estate had obviously given her back her health but he was curious as to what state her fighting abilities were in. Also, it had been nagging at the back of his mind for months now why she didn't simply blast down the wall of her cell and escape from Bethlehem Royal. He had a suspicion but he had to know for sure…

Shego tried her best not to blush when she remembered how North had walked in on her earlier. _"I hope he doesn't think I go here to feel myself up._"

"I come here to exercise," she stammered out rather quickly.

"Iris had mentioned to me in passing that she thought you were a tumbler. I thought she was joking, is it true?" Ron chuckled at his own attempts at baiting.

Shego shrugged her shoulders, wondering exactly how she would explain the concept of Aikido or Jujitsu to a 19th century industrialist when she decided just to show him. She lined up her figure on the other side of the sand bag that North had been idly punching while they had been conversing and focused her attention for a moment.

"Just watch."

Breathing out she tried to calm her center and relax her body. Once the desired state of relaxation was achieved she lashed out at the sand bag with her arms in what could only be described as a whip-like fashion. When she came to the abrupt end of her kata, the bag was split and leaking sand.

Ron took in the demonstration he had just seen and tried to judge it against his own martial arts knowledge. She had chosen a style that relied more on expansive muscle work than contractive, which was generally different from what he would have expected from her. The benefit was obvious, it relied less on limited group of muscles to generate force and the power instead came from the very _center_ of the practitioner. Her decision told him a lot about her current state of fitness – she had probably lost a great deal of muscle from her interment at _Bedlam_ and it would take a very long time for her to get it back.

"How unusual," he deadpanned. It was in a way a remark that focused on both her choice of fighting forms as well as disguised to cover the fact he was very much _not_ surprised at what he had seen.

Shego shrank a little bit once she realized that North was staring at her with an unreadable look on his face. _"Great, did I just punch my meal ticket?_" It was a distinct possibility. North had been kind, but it dawned on her after the fact that he might not feel comfortable about having a woman around that was a violent psychopath.

"_Why do things always turn out this way? I meet a nice guy, he saves my life, treats me like a princess, doesn't make any Kermit jokes, and I scare him away by acting like a freak. I don't even have Hego or Drew to blame for this one!_"

Part of her blamed her moronic brothers for convincing her to "use her powers for good" all those many years ago. Maybe if she had never walked down that road in the first place she would be living a quiet life in Go City right now with a nice apartment, a decent job and a cute boyfriend who really liked the color green. Sure it was a long shot, but Shego did have a few fantasies of her own. She often considered her super hero past as the first big mistake in her life.

The second big mistake was of course becoming the hired help for the world's most incompetent super villain. She always knew it wasn't a great job but it had its simple allures – flying around the world, her own digs, henchmen to boss around and people and things to work out her family issues on. Now that it seemed to be gone, she had to admit that she didn't miss it nearly as much as she thought she would and it kind of bothered her. After all, she had become a wanted criminal in nearly a dozen countries, and what for?

North looked to be pondering something and then he cleared his throat as if to begin speaking.

"_Here it comes… it was nice while it lasted._"

"Care to try that against me?" said North.

Shego looked up from the floor with shock and stared at North's grinning face. This was not quite the reaction that she had been prepared for. Even in her more modern era when a man saw her "wild side" they tended to become aloof. Not many men wanted a girlfriend that could send them rocketing through a concrete wall and the ones that did, she had found out, were almost uniformly perverts with a predilection for activities that she didn't particularly care for.

"I suppose I could." She said with a little smirk on her face.

"_He's a nice guy, he probably just wants to assert his 'masculinity' with me. I'll go easy on him, maybe even let him win…_"

Together as if by some unsaid agreement they both moved to the center of the gym and stood facing each other a dozen feet apart. Shego didn't bother to remove her dress, she wasn't planning on having too strenuous a match with North and while the idea of performing Judo throws on him while she was wearing only her underwear was mildly erotic, she wasn't sure how well it'd go over with the man's 19th century mores. She bowed once to him and North seemed to catch the movement and then duplicate it, and then she stood in a classic aikido stance, waiting to see if he would attack first.

Ron waited for a moment standing stock-still and upright while he observed Shego slip into an aikido stance that he recognized. If she was going to go with aikido then chances were she was waiting for him to launch the attack so she could respond with either a throw or a pressure attack. He concluded that she might be withholding her normally aggressive nature not only out of limitations imposed by her recent weakness, but also out of concern for his safety. She must have thought that his challenge was just standard male bravado and posturing.

"_Why not give her what she wants and then taunt her a little with it…_"

Ron dropped into a low crouch, the kind that he had often seen his wrestling hero Steel-toe use in his televised matches. It "looked" threatening, but that was about all it did. It was more or less, a complete joke. He scanned Shego's eyes and felt that he detected the faint glimmer of amusement there. She was obviously expecting something like this.

Hunched over and with his arms held out in front of him like he was going for a bear hug, he circled Shego who was still not making a move. Most likely he would have to carry through with his ruse in order to get her to actually do anything. Concluding that this was perhaps the only way, he charged in blindly as if he was lunging in for a grapple and waited for the inevitable to happen.

Shego smirked for a moment, "_Too easy,_" she had thought, and sent her arm snaking out for his wrist. She grabbed it and twisting her body slightly to use every ounce of available strength it possessed, she let North's own momentum bring him up and over her shoulder in an aikido throw.

Or at least that was how she had planned it.

What happened instead was something she never would have expected. Just as North was at the apex of his arc, both of his hands snapped around her own arm. He used her own body to adjust his weight and trajectory so that he landed on his feet and then used her own throwing motion to actually lift _her_ up into the air. She barely had a second to react before she found herself spinning up over her own back and coming to a rest in an over-the-shoulder carry on North's shoulder.

What he did next was an ancient and time-tested martial arts move. One designed to cause your opponent a significant source of discomfort that would bring about their eventual defeat.

He playfully patted her rump.

"Not bad!" he said in a cheery voice. Shego couldn't tell if he was referring to her attempted throw or her posterior and hence her emotions were torn between outraged fury and extreme embarrassment. With a quick motion and twist of her own body she broke his hold and landed on her side, rolling somewhat awkwardly to her feet.

Ron had barely a moment to adjust before a stocking clad foot whistled by within inches of his head.

"_All right, this is more like it!_"

He knew that if he was going to see what he wanted to, then he was going to have to push her buttons – get her a little angry, hopefully angry enough she'd literally burn up. He wanted to see her fire.

He faked a couple of straight punches at her, nothing fancy and nothing exotic, just straight Marquess of Queensbury rules. As expected, Shego expertly dodged his first two blows and then blocked his right cross with her extended left arm. She in turn was obviously getting frustrated with her inability to land a blow of her own. There was a quick flurry of punches exchanged between the two and then they both separated, catching their breath and reassessing the situation.

Shego was very surprised that at the ability North had shown already. His footwork was impeccable although she couldn't place the style and his attacks seemed be nothing more than a smattering of classic boxing and wrestling moves. She could hear her skirts swishing as she circled around the man and she wondered if perhaps they were impeding her more than she had at first thought.

"_Probably not – he's good, much better than I would have guessed. I really want to wipe that cute grin off his face._"

Mentally she corrected herself to omit the "cute" part of her comment and then she began another round of attacks. This time she used more distractions and more false steps and strikes to open up his defenses and finally she thought she saw an opening so she took it. After a faked punch to North's right that had sent him slightly out of alignment, she spun around and whipped out her foot at his exposed left side. His arms were a little slow in coming up, so the attack reached past his defenses and slammed into ribs. It was a decent blow, but not devastating and thus she was surprised by the reaction on his face.

He had caught her leg, almost after the fact, and had his hands wrapped around it. His next move should have been to attempt a throw, or something else to push her off balance, but it never came. Instead his grip got very strong and his face sported a grimace of pain. He didn't utter a word and he didn't move, instead he just stood there. She noted that she had hit him almost exactly where here was sporting those thick bandages. If Shego had just let the moment pass, then he would have released her and probably started to tend to his wound, but instead she was overcome with a worry for his welfare and attempted to pull away herself. What ended up happening was an accident that she would remember for the rest of her life.

The floor of North's gymnasium was made of a very smooth wood and Shego was not barefooted, having opted for wearing her stockings to keep her feet warm on what was still a rather cold day. When she attempted to push away from North, she found that her foot that was still resting on the ground lost its purchase and she started tumbling backwards. Her first instinct, and probably the first instinct of every person that is falling, was to twist herself around so her hands and arms could beak her fall. Unfortunately for her events conspired to make this seemingly simple action have unintended consequences.

North's hands were still gripped tightly around her other leg, above her calf and slightly below the knee. When she twisted and started to fall away from him he was in so much pain that he didn't notice and so he didn't let go. There was a moment of panic when she felt the drawstrings on her bloomers give away and then it was followed by a long second or two of complete immobilization as she realized that she was laying on her face, her skirts around her ears and with Timothy North holding the bottom part of her undergarments.

Somewhere, someplace, a very lucky fellow was collecting a long overdue bet on the odds of Ron Stoppable not being the first person to lose his pants in a fight.

Shego was quick to respond, it was probably the cool air flowing over her bare backside that brought her to her senses and in an embarrassing moment her hands instantly went to cover herself, sending a loud "smack" sound into the air that only served to bring attention to her predicament. There was a split second where Ron's eyes opened, the pain in his side momentarily forgotten, when he caught much more of an eyeful of the raven haired villainess that he would have expected.

"What the devil?" he said, his eyes traveling from Shego's lush derriere to the garment that he was still holding in his hands. There wasn't much time for him to follow that trail of thought, or even sneak another peak, before a loud and Ron noted rather amusedly, quite girlish, scream resounded in the air.

"AAAAAAUUUGH!" screamed Shego. Her mind was reeling in terror as it dawned on her what had just happened. Her first instinct was her old stand by, namely "attack" but when the fire never came to her hands the totality of her humiliation sunk into her head and she did the only thing she could under the circumstances – she blushed a fierce shade of crimson and bolted out of the door as fast as she could.

As Ron heard the doors to the gymnasium slam shut he took a moment to try and piece together what had just happened. Looking down at the sheer undergarment in his hands it finally dawned on him that he had de-pantsed one of the world's most dangerous women. Not knowing what to make of such a sudden discovery he shrugged and started to make his own way to the door. Shego's kick had re-opened the wound he had received in Brussels and he was in no condition to continue his practice.

"Master North! What's going on?" Iris had heard Shego's scream and arrived on the scene just as Ron was aiming to leave. She took a look at her employer's bare chest and the decidedly female undergarments he was holding in his hand and fainted dead away.

Ron wasted no time in halting the shocked woman's descent to the floor and now with both of his arms full, one with a woman's bloomers and the other with an actual woman he finally rolled his eyes and gave up in defeat.

"_Great, what am I supposed to do **now**_?"

Like many things in Ron Stoppable's life, things that he thought should have been rather simple, had turned extremely complicated.

-

"Is that all?" inquired an extremely irate Montgomery Fiske.

"Um… yes Lord Fiske, that's all we were able to find out. Our man on the inside wrote us a letter, but if you prefer I can try to arrange a personal meeting. I'm sure it can be done without arousing suspicion," replied the shadowed man that went by the name of "Cager".

Fiske nodded at the man for a moment and began to contemplate his choices.

"_Could it be her? And if it is… what is she doing with North? Could she be the reason why he's always such a thorn in my side? I wouldn't have pegged her for being that smart, but maybe I misjudged her. Or maybe she's using North as a shield to protect her while she makes her own plans. Why didn't she come to me first? She would have been a useful ally…_"

Fiske's mind was lost in questions. He had been looking for Shego off and on for nearly twenty years. He had assumed that when the phase disrupter blasted him out of existence and deposited him in the tail end of the 18th century that there was a high degree of probability it had done the same to Shego and the Stoppable, but try as he might he could find no trace of either of them. Stoppable, even being a bit of a buffoon, could be smart enough to blend in to society well enough to not bring any attention to him, but Shego was an entirely different matter.

The woman glowed green for God's sake.

"Tell me Cager, what of this woman again? Does she have any unusual characteristics?" Fiske didn't want to lead Cager too much with his questions.

"Only what I've told you… her skin, hair and eyes match the description you gave me. Our spy hasn't seen her exhibit any of those…" he searched for the right word, "… other traits."

The entire idea of a woman that could cause green fire to burst from her hands seemed entirely ludicrous to Micajah Pilkington, or Cager as he preferred to be known. However he ruminated on the fact that people who tended to laugh at Lord Montgomery Fiske's delusional fantasies, even the most outrageous ones, often ended up dead. "_No thank you very much_." He would take the deranged Lord's money and smile gladly at his nonsense.

"I have to see her Cager. It's the only way to make sure."

"That'll be next to impossible sir. It appears that she almost never leaves North's estate. You'd have to lure her out somehow…" The wheels in Cager's mind were already turning, trying to solve the thorny problem.

Fiske pondered for a moment himself. It would be rather easy for him to infiltrate North's estate on his own and there was a high degree of chance he could do it unspotted. But what if he was wrong? His features were easily recognizable thanks to his mutation and if someone did see him, there was a high degree of chance that it would tip North off to his impending ruin. Yes, he was planning on killing North, but it was going to be at a time and place of his choosing. A plan started to form in his mind.

"Cager, what's that charity that North is always spending his money on?" he inquired.

"The hospital sir? He's the main investor…" Cager was starting to see where this was going, "Lord Fiske? Perhaps we could lure her out…"

Fiske smiled at the man. It was one of the reasons why he paid him so much money. Cager had a diabolical mind, almost as keen as his, and he could tell the other man had already picked up on his intentions.

"Yes Cager, why don't I contact some associates and organize an event…"

Cager continued his sentence for him, "A charity ball, a fundraiser for North's precious hospital?"

Fiske broke out into a broad grin, "Of course and the guests of honor would be…"

"Mr. North and his cousin." Cager could already see the opportunities lying ahead of him.

Monkey Fist inwardly chortled at his own cleverness. If he could lure both North and this mysterious green skinned cousin of his out into the open, then he could easily spy upon them and determine if the woman was the one he had been looking for. From there, the possibilities were endless. If the woman actually _was_ Shego, then he could take her aside and interrogate her, or capture her and bend her to his will, or even….

"_Frame her for the murder of her 'cousin'_."

It was an evil thought, and one that warmed the cockles of his black heart. If Shego rebuffed his offer to work for him, then he could easily dispose of two annoyances with a simple action. "_An unspoken engagement, a jealous lover, a bloody knife._" Yes, these things could all come to pass with a little work. After all, who would dare to question the word of a famous and wealthy Lord like himself?

Plans within plans were starting to form in the mind of the Monkey Master. It would be the last option of course; he would much prefer to have Shego working for him than dead or in jail. However, if she refused him, or she was using North as her pawn, then he would make sure that she would never bother him again.

"Now, moving on to my interests in Constantinople…"

-

Ron cursed under his breath. He should have seen this coming, should have expected it, but he had been so wrapped up in other matters that it had never occurred to him that the lines of gossip that spread throughout the British aristocracy would have already discovered his little secret. He took another look at the invitation in his hand.

"… _the grand introduction of Ms. Bellatrix North._"

He lamented at what a fool he had been when he had agreed to the fundraising ball for the hospital. He had been so caught up in tracking the movements of Fiske that he hadn't bothered anything more than cursory glance at the letter before he told his secretary to give his agreement. Now his inattention was coming back to bite him in the ass. Under normal circumstances, he might be inclined to just make an excuse and postpone the ball indefinitely, but the response to the invitations had been enormous and he regretted losing the opportunity to get the upper crust of London society interested in his pet project. If he could just convince them to see it's worth then he could cause a great deal of good in the world…

It was a sublime problem for him; where Ron Stoppable, always generous and kind was battling with Timothy North, master manipulator and plotter, for what action he should take. He was quite literally, of two minds on the issue. Of course, to complicate matters more, Shego hadn't even so much as spoken to him for three days now, ever since the "incident" in the gymnasium.

He had tried on several occasions to apologize, not only because he did feel truly bad about what had happened, but also because Iris had kept giving him the hairy eye whenever he sat down for meals alone. He didn't know exactly _what_ the woman thought he had done, or tried to do, but he was sure that it didn't meet with her approval and his claims of it being an "accident" seemingly fell on deaf ears.

Sometime soon, he knew he was going to have to fix the situation between them. Shego was an unknown variable in his plots and he was determined to solve her before Fiske became aware of where she was. It had been rather easy to keep her out of the public eye, with her not really knowing anyone and with all the comforts that the Richmond estate had offered, but he knew that sooner or later she would not be content to be cooped up in such a remote location any more. Already she seemed to have a great deal of the fire and independence of her old personality back and he knew that it was only a matter of time before she felt comfortable enough with her new lot in life to start taking a more active role in the world at large – and if not, then sheer boredom would probably become enough of an issue for her to take to exploring her alien surroundings.

He placed the paper down on his desk and leaned back in his chair. He had never been that great with women and several life times hadn't particularly change that. Part of the reason was because he knew that even if he were to come to love a girl, he would have no future with her – or at least not a long one. Sooner or later the time stream would contract like a rubber band and snap him back to that same remote location in China, and then what? Would he go and find another lover? Could he do that? Would he be tempted to track down his old love and try desperately to win her affections again? How many times could he do such a thing before he went insane?

It was a heart-rending situation for any man to be in and he was extremely lonely because of it. He had never really allowed any single woman to get close to him ever since Kim had broken his heart so long ago and to be truthful that had contributed more than a little bit to his lack of romance, but not nearly as much as the grim realities of his situation had. Also, deep down inside he had a terrible and probably foolish fear that he would end up his own great-great-great-great-grandfather – and that was a sobering vision to say the least.

Still, despite all his failures in love he was no longer the awkward and naïve young man he used to be. He had constructed the personality of Timothy North out of whole cloth and used it as a disguise to help him flow through upper society at will for years now and during those years and all the ones that came in lifetimes before, he had learned many things about how to handle a woman. He mused that perhaps Shego wasn't an ordinary woman, but he was willing to bet that with a little work he could win her over – or at least placate her enough to get her to go along with his plans. Sure, perhaps it would be a mean thing to do and deep down inside Ron Stoppable didn't particularly care for manipulating a woman in that way, but Timothy North on the other hand…

He would do whatever it took to win his victory.

Rising from his desk he moved to the corner of his study and crouched down in front of a concealed panel. Behind that panel was a heavy iron safe that he had the key for. He opened it and began to look at the contents inside quite critically.

"_Hmm… there has to be something here. Something that would suit her…_"

There was a slight glimmer in his eye as something glittering caught his attention. He knew, without a doubt, that he had found a winner.

-

Shego had locked herself in her apartments for the third night in a row. Iris had just left a meal for her not moments ago, after almost pleading for Shego to come down to eat dinner with her "cousin". She couldn't decide exactly what type of game the older woman was playing – sometimes she would seem visibly jealous whenever Shego showed any interest in North and at other times, like now, she would be quite incessant in her pleadings that they "get along well". It was confusing, to say the least.

She couldn't really blame Iris; her own feelings were confusing enough.

She knew that she wasn't really angry with North for what had happened in the gymnasium. A small, and somewhat frightened, part of her brain that still clutched tightly to the torments that she had experienced at _Bedlam_ had chattered dire warnings to her about what the man was _really_ interested in, but she had been more or less able to push them away. She ruefully admitted that the rape she had endured had left more than a little scar upon her psyche when the very thought of a handsome and nice man desiring her had caused her panic. Yes, she was definitely confused to say the least and her heart was clouded with indecision.

Experience had taught her to be guarded about her feelings. Whenever she had been interested in a man he had either rebuffed her or her situation would not allow for romance to work. It didn't matter that she had been a super villain or a super hero, the end results were the same – the circles she traveled in kept her apart from the seemingly "normal" nice guys. The few men that did seem to be interested in her were invariably creeps or they treated her like she was some sort of exotic pet or trophy to brag about – "_Hey look at me, I'm banging Shego!_" It had infuriated her but secretly she felt that it was the best she could ever hope for. She would forever be either the "girlfriend" the "mistress" or "freaky screw" – love it seemed, was forever out of her grasp and the little girl inside her cried for the woman she had become.

So why, this time, did she think things would be any different?

She admitted that she was attracted to Timothy North – what woman wouldn't be? He was handsome and rich, which for someone with shallow desires would be more than enough to spark an interest. However, he was also so much more. He was kind, gentle and humorous – all of the qualities that supposedly _really mattered_. She had imagined herself being his girlfriend, or even his mistress. Would he put her up in posh apartments and have weekend getaways with her? Would he lavish her with attention and affection? It seemed that it was too much to even dream about given her past experiences and while she was lost in these depressing thoughts she didn't hear the voice of the younger girl inside her suggesting another possibility - "wife". That was a dream that she had given up on a long time ago.

Still, even after the embarrassing incident and the cold way she had been avoiding him for the last few days, he had made no move against her at all. Of course, he also hadn't come to talk to her, or apologize either and that had made her a little upset and surprisingly sad. Maybe he really didn't care about her and was just keeping her out of Monkey Fist's way for his own purposes. He had said more or less that was the original reason for his generosity, perhaps protecting her life had only been a secondary concern of his? Despite the fact that her cynical older self knew better, the younger and more optimistic girl she used to be had been holding onto a silly hope that this seemingly amazing man from another century might be the prince she was looking for.

"_Just another stupid dream. Things don't work that way in the real world and what man would love a freak like me?_"

She stared at herself in the mirror. Despite the fancy clothes and the voluptuous figure, the fact that she was a freak was literally plastered all over her face. There was no escaping it; she had been marked all over her body. Why had she been the only one in her family not able to turn off her power and assume a normal appearance? Even that idiot Hego had managed to find a woman willing to put up with him. She wanted to strike out at her own reflection and curse. Even now when it seemed that she couldn't make the fire appear anymore, her skin was still the same awful mint color it had been ever since the day that meteor had crashed into her life and crushed her dreams.

Her hand was raised up and she was indeed about dash the hated reflection in the mirror when there was a gentle, but firm knocking at her door.

"Excuse me? Bella? Could I talk to you for a moment."

Shego instantly seized up – it was North. Her heart was torn between not responding or sending him away, but she did neither of these things. Instead she absently straightened her hair and before she could even realize what she was doing she opened the outer door of her drawing room.

Timothy North was standing in front of her, a somewhat bemused expression on his face. Evidently he had been not been expecting such a quick response and Shego herself was slightly taken aback by what she had done.

"_Get a hold of yourself girl._" She mentally berated herself.

"Bella," North began, "I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I know saying it was an accident won't make you feel any better, but please let me make it up to you somehow."

These were not quite the words that Shego was expecting to hear. She had thought that North had finally gotten fed up with her hiding in her rooms and had come to deliver the news that she was being tossed out on her ear. She actually had a whole speech prepared that instantly died on her lips as soon as she realized what was happening. She had to go with "Plan B".

"Umm…."

There was no Plan B.

North just smiled at her and with a gentle grip on her arm led her over to a plush divan close to the fire.

"I just wanted to say, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. In fact, I'd really like it if you would stay…" he smiled at her with his best charming grin.

"And maybe even have dinner with me sometimes? If you want to of course…"

Shego had to restrain herself from blurting out something like, "Of course!" or "I'd love to!" She took a moment to steady herself and then placed her hands in her lap and stared at them. It was bitterly amusing to her that she could fight an enemy with confidence and courage but talking to a man she liked was a nerve wracking endeavor.

"Tim…" she began and noticed that his face lit up a little bit at her using his name this way instead of the more formal, "Mr. North".

"How is your side?" She had wanted to apologize to him but it wasn't something that she was very good at, saying she was sorry, so she instead steered the conversation into another direction.

"Oh this?" he patted himself on the ribs, "Doing fine, I heal fast. I have to admit, you gave me quite the shock."

Shego's eyes went wide when she vividly recalled the "shocking experience". She blushed furiously and started to stammer, "a-about that… it was an accident I'm sure…"

North looked puzzled. "Huh? Oh you mean…" his voice trailed off and Shego felt sure that he was remembering everything in exact detail. Her blush only deepened. Eventually North broke off his reminiscing and continued, "I was actually talking about your fighting moves. I have a feeling that there's much more to you than meets the eye…"

He was baiting her and in order to cover up a potential slip he followed up his comment with a wink and said, "No that what meets the eye isn't intriguing enough."

"_Oh wow, he just hit on me! What do I do?_" It was an uncomfortable situation, but not one that she was entirely opposed to. Still, she needed time to make up her mind about her own feelings so she attempted to divert the conversation once again.

"It's an eastern style of fighting, I learned it…" she struggled for a believable lie, "from my brothers." Not quite the truth, but not entirely a lie either. She had studied martial arts early on in her career with Team-Go.

"Well then, maybe when my side is completely healed you can show me a bit more? Oh and I mean the _fighting_, although I'm not complaining about the other stuff." North's grin was practically rakish and Shego had to stave off an extreme fit of nerves as she laughed a little bit at his joke. At least his humor had a way of defusing some of the embarrassment from the incident.

"I think I'd like that. I don't enjoy being cooped up here all the time." She thought for a moment and then hurriedly added, "Not that I don't like my rooms, they're really nice…" She was upset at herself; she was bumbling like always, tripping over her words whenever they weren't an insult or a snide comment.

"Well then, I think something can be arranged. Other than apologizing I also came here to give you a gift, would you like it?" North's expression was unreadable, but he seemed sincere.

"You don't really have to give me anything… for that." Despite the fact that Shego had often just _taken_ things that she wanted, she was shy at the prospect of actually receiving a gift. It wasn't something that had happened to her very often.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to be firm on this. Please close your eyes."

Shego hesitated for a moment, "_Close my eyes? What is he going to do? What do I want him to do?_".

North seemed to notice her hesitation and followed up his request with a soothing comment, "It'll be fine, I promise you."

His voice and face looked so sincere that Shego decided, that just this once, she'd follow his lead. She closed her eyes and then felt something drape across her neck. It was slightly heavy and cool to the touch. North fumbled for a moment with something and then said, "Ok, take a look."

Shego opened her eyes and looked down at her chest. Slung low from her neck was an intricate and beautiful necklace. It was made of emeralds and diamonds, set into silver and it hung in waves down her chest towards her cleavage. Her practiced mind did a few calculations and came up with a rather astounding figure.

"You _really_ didn't need to do this," it was all she could get out of her mouth as she placed her hand over her chest. Almost on impulse she rose from her seat and started to examine herself in a mirror.

North leaned back in the divan and seemed to admire Shego as she was admiring his gift. He stretched his arms back over his head and spoke, "Perhaps it was a little extravagant, but there aren't many things made by man that could compliment your beauty."

He said it so earnestly that Shego felt herself tremble a little bit, "_Does he really mean that?_"

"Also, you're going to need it."

Shego paused for a moment and then turned to face North, "What do you mean?"

"It seems that I have made a little error, but not an unhappy one. You did mention that you were getting bored with being cooped up here?" North was coolly admiring Shego and his gaze was not lost on her.

"It's nice being here…" she started to protest.

"But you'd like to get out and see the city perhaps?" he inquired with a grin.

Shego thought for a moment. She was secretly relieved that he wasn't sending her away.

"Yes, I'd actually like that." She was smiling and it was an earnest smile that hadn't graced her face in years.

"You're in luck then, I happen to have heard that there's a little ball going on soon and believe it or not, you're the guest of honor!" North let out a low chuckle at this statement, almost as if he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"E-e-excuse me?" she stammered. "_Did he just ask me out to a dance?_"

"Well it seems that word of my 'cousin' from America has finally reached the ears of certain members of our little society here in London. There was an occasion to throw a ball, for a good cause mind you – the benefit of a hospital, and it seems that certain parties had decided quite unbeknownst to me that it would be suitable to double as your introduction." North looked almost sorry as he said the last words, Shego couldn't quite tell why.

"So… We're going to a dance?" her mind couldn't get around that fact.

"Well, yes. If you'd like to that is. It's not too late for me to beg off, but I'd hate to lose the chance to get so many people interested in the hospital and you _did_ mention you'd like to get out a little." North had moved up behind Shego and was looking over her shoulder at her own reflection in the mirror.

A warm, and not too unpleasant flush, spread across Shego's body. She had gone to exactly one formal dance with a boy in her entire life. It was the fall homecoming dance in her second year of high school and despite how it had turned into an unmitigated disaster; she oddly enough still had somewhat fond memories of the event. Of course the fact that she had ended up sending her date through the door of his car when he decided to get a little fresh hadn't really helped out her social life too much, but still, everything up till then had been like a dream come true. She idly wondered if she had just told her date "No", instead of hitting him with a plasma infused fist, if things would have turned out differently for her.

Making up her mind, she slowly turned around and gently placed one of her hands on North's shoulder. "I'd love to go with you."

North, slightly taken aback by this uncharacteristic display of affection from the woman (he was Ron Stoppable after all, and more used to seeing Shego punch him than caress him), made a strange little face and then smiled at her.

"Excellent, I take it you know the cotillion?" he asked.

Shego looked at him blankly.

"Well, how about the scotch reel?"

"Not exactly." Shego was starting to see the cracks in her ballroom fantasy.

"Hmm… Country dancing it is then? That's an old favorite…" North let his voice trail off as he noticed the look in Shego's eyes. "_Damn it, I forgot who I was talking to here. She probably doesn't have the faintest idea of how to act at a ball._"

Shego sighed and removed her hand from North's shoulder. She had been so caught up in the moment that she hadn't really stopped to think that the only "dancing" she really knew was either the gyrating her hips kind, or the shambling around slow-dance kind. The fantasy she had started to construct about her introduction to high society was crashing around her ears.

"Well, no worry. If you may be so kind…" North held his hand out to Shego and after a moment of hesitation she took it. He then led them both over to an open stretch of the parlor floor.

"We'll start with country dancing, it's quite old but very popular. It's also very easy to learn."

"_He's going to teach me how to dance?_ _A cute guy teaching a woman to dance… you don't see that every day._"

North took her shoulders in his hands and moved her into position on the floor, then he backed up in front of her a fair distance and began his instruction.

"The first move is called the back to back, or if you prefer the French term, the _dos-à-dos_."

Shego blinked for a second, "The do si do?"

North smiled and exclaimed, "Ah, so you _do_ know something about this?"

Shego internally shuddered. Vivid images of a painful 6th grade gym class spent learning square dancing came to her mind.

"Maybe a little. You still better show me," she wasn't all that confident that she could remember what she had been taught, and besides – why pass up the opportuntiy to dance when she seldom ever got the chance?

"Ok, well you see it goes like this…"

-

Two hours later the dancing lessons eventually came to an end. Shego was actually feeling a little tired, evidently her body had yet to make a full recovery from the abuses it had suffered. She had actually wanted to call the lesson off a fair bit earlier, but North's enthusiasm as well as all the attention he was paying her made her want to hold on just a little longer. She'd probably be sore in the morning, but for now she was happy and feeling perhaps a little girlish sitting next to him on the plush couch as they both caught their breath.

North had actually closed his eyes and seemed to be dozing a little bit with his head resting on a cushion. Shego wasn't particularly surprised, from what she understood the man woke up long before the crack of dawn and stayed awake far into the night. She smiled a little bit as she looked at his resting face; it was even more handsome than when he was awake. Normally his features were strong, noble looking even, but now she was seeing something else, an almost childlike quality and peacefulness. She resisted the urge to reach out her finger and trace the line of his jaw.

"_Time to admit it, I'm seriously crushing on this guy._"

Once she said those words to herself she was overcome with a feeling of sadness. Men didn't usually want her, well they _wanted_ her, but not as anything more than a play toy or one night stand. Nice guys, the ones that she wanted to be with, never seemed to be able to get past the fact that she was _Shego_, not that she had made it easy for any of them who had sincerely wanted to try.

However, just maybe, possibly, there was an opportunity here, if she was only brave enough to take it. She had been sent away from her home and time, that much was true, but she had also been sent away from the life that she had been living rather unhappily. Things had changed. This was a fact that she couldn't deny. She was so far away from where she had started, that she might as well have been on the surface of the moon.

"_Why not?"_ she said to herself, _"Why not take a chance? Why not see if there is something more in this life than what I thought there was? Why not see if there is something here, in this place, for me._"

She stole another glance at the sleeping man next to her and then she made up her mind. Without saying a word, or even moving too much, she gently laid her head onto the shoulder of Mr. Timothy North. It was an uncharacteristic action on her behalf and one that she felt a little nervous about, but she told herself in her head that this was a new place, a place where she didn't have to be the woman she was before. If she could only summon up a little courage then maybe she could be the woman that she had always wanted to be.

It wouldn't be that easy of course, but it was a start.

-

A/N: Well, chapter 7 is in the bag. I hope people are enjoying the developments in this story, I know that I've had fun tying all the little threads together as well as weaving new loose ends that I want to get back to later.

I'm reading through your guys comments on chapter 6 right now and I'm glad to see that the response so far has been uniformly positive and I'm glad to see that people are getting sucked into reading this story just as much as I've been sucked into writing it. It's like I can't just leave Ron and Shego alone for some reason, it's almost infuriating!

Oh btw, I had a fun conversation with someone who's been reading this story about the style of my prose, or I guess you would say, my writing style in general. Basically it was along the lines of, "How did you get this voice?" Where I assumed that voice means the tenor, or tone of my writing. I really didn't know how to respond to this, but I made an embarrassing and somewhat funny admission. I have a bit of a rough and deadpan voice and it happens to be true that I read everything I write out loud while I'm writing. The amusing part is that if you've ever played any of the Max Payne video games, then my voice and diction are almost identical to that of the narrator reading the trashy noir graphic novels. As silly as that probably sounds to people I actually have found out that it really helps me to measure the flow and the overall intonation of my writing. To me, if something doesn't sound good when I'm saying it, then it probably is worse when you're reading it.

So there ya go, there's my little secret, just please don't giggle too much when you imagine the cheesy voice over when you read my stories!

Anyway, back to this chapter – I hope people can appreciate the direction I am taking with the two main characters. I've almost flipped their personalities completely. Shego, it should be obvious by now, is pretty vulnerable and is falling hard for the mysterious Mr. North (Ron), yet Ron is using that same persona, to manipulate Shego into doing the things that he wants her to do – namely to eventually put her into direct confrontation with Monkey Fist. I almost feel bad for poor Shego even though I'm the one writing the story. From all the inside peeks I've given you guys at her fears and her insecurities, I think you can only imagine the potential damage from that kind of betrayal once she finds out that she's been played…

Well, I'm not going to say anymore on the subject, because it needs to actually unfold for everyone to truly enjoy it. However, I kind of wanted to give everyone a little sneak peek into my thinking process.

Btw, a little bit of trivia – This is the longest chapter yet, barely nudging out chapter 4, which had been the most important chapter of the story to date. (The story really takes off once we hit Shego's POV after the phase disrupter incident). I wonder if that means this chapter is as good as that one or if I'm just getting better at writing a lot of drabble down in one go!

Thanks for reading and please, please, please review. It helps me out immensely to see people's feedback to my chapters.

Thanks,

QC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – A Caress in the Dark

Sometimes, if you want to accomplish something, all you really need to do is try really, really hard. If your goal seems almost impossible, then it may be just that – but only almost. Often if you find yourself determined enough or even desperate enough, you can do things that you would never have believed.

It sounded like a credo of some cute anthromorphic creature from some Disney cartoon, but in truth it was a hard earned life lesson of one particular pint sized hero.

His name was Rufus, and yes, he was a naked mole rat.

It's not easy being a naked mole rat. For starters, you're… well naked. That means no fur, no hair, no clothes and practically no dignity. Not that it had ever truthfully bothered Rufus; so long as he had a nice warm pocket to curl up in and as much nacho cheese as he could eat, he was one content little ball of pinkish mole rat flesh. In a lot of ways, he was almost identical in temperament, demeanor and motivation as his friend and owner, Ron Stoppable.

It was one of the many reasons why they had seemingly been able to cross the interspecies divide between them and become really good friends. Ron provided Rufus with nachos, petting, a pocket to curl up in and hours of entertainment. Rufus in return provided Ron with unswerving, complete and total loyalty. And sometimes he saved his life too. All things considered, Rufus felt like it was a particularly equitable arraignment and he was just trying to do his part.

The saving Ron's life part, as it were.

Rufus may not have completely understood the intricate details of human interpersonal relationships, but he knew something was wrong weeks ago. Kim, the female whom he had considered a good friend (but not quite as good as Ron) had been acting strange for quite a while. She seemed sad and moody and despite his best efforts to cheer her up, she spiraled downward into a deep funk and depression. He was worried, but he had thought that it was just a passing phase. Most likely she, like him, missed Ron. Ron after all, was the best, most awesome, coolest and funniest human Rufus had ever known, so it made complete sense to him

However as the days worse on, he became more and more concerned about the situation. Kim was spending a lot of time away from home, sometimes she would stay out all night, sometimes she would even stay out for more than two nights in a row. It left Rufus in a little bit of a pinch, because even though he _could_ open the food storage place on his own, no Kim around the house meant no Bueno Nacho and that meant… well Rufus didn't like to dwell on it.

So he was exceptionally happy when the noise of the front door opening woke him up one night and he saw his best bud and friend, Ron Stoppable, enter the house. If he knew Ron, and Rufus was sure he did, his friend would be bringing him either some delicious Bueno Nacho or gourmet cheese. He felt his stomach do a pavlovian rumble at the prospect of the delicacies that awaited it. So lost in these thoughts was he, that he didn't notice Ron leave the kitchen area and head to the back of the apartment. What followed was a confusing clash of breaking objects and screaming that momentarily banished thoughts of food from his head.

His best friend Ron, and his good friend Kim, were yelling at each other in front of him. He didn't know why they were yelling at each other; it was a sight that he had never witnessed before. Rufus, much to his shame, started to get a little scared. He wasn't normally easily frightened, which should come as no surprise since naked mole rats are notoriously brave, but something about the scene that was unfolding before him made him want to curl up and cover his head with his tiny little paws. Reluctantly he acknowledged, there were just some things that even naked mole rats couldn't bear to watch.

The thing that had happened next was something that would bother him for a long time. He was so afraid and sad that he was literally cowering in the darkened corner of the room and because of this he ignored his first instinct, which was to leap into Ron's pocket. He regretted it almost immediately afterwards, because Ron stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him. That was four days ago and Rufus hadn't seen him since. Not however, because of lack of trying.

All of these events brought Rufus to where he was today, standing on the interstate highway five miles outside of Middleton and contemplating the answer to the ancient riddle of, "Why did the naked mole rat cross the road?"

The answer was obvious. Because he was Rufus and he was coming to the rescue. Duh.

Rufus didn't really know where Ron was, but something deep inside him said that he needed to go back to Middleton, back to the place where he and Ron (and reluctantly he admitted these days, Kim) had grown up together. Rufus wasn't too sure what his feelings about Kim were these days but he knew that after seeing that agonizingly painful look on Ron's face that she had fallen pretty low on his list of favorite people. He wondered a little sadly if he would ever see her again, but his primary concern right now was finding Ron and helping him out in any way he could, and being Rufus, that could actually be quite a lot.

He studied the road before him and looked at the cacophony of cars that were streaming across its multi-laned expanse. The prospects of a naked mole rat who's top speed was about ten miles per hour trying to get past them didn't look too good, but he had little choice because they were keeping him from his goal – the Middleton Space Science Center.

Rufus kind of wondered _why_ he knew that was the place he had to go to, especially since he didn't really know what it was, or what was done there, or what was so important about it. However, something deep down inside him, and probably the same part of him that told him that his friend needed him, was insisting that this was his final destination. Steeling his mole rat courage (which had already been established as being quite large), he took a deep breath and then plunged head first into the asphalt deathtrap.

A lesser pet, like maybe an iguana or perhaps a cat, would have been smeared into paste within a second. Rufus however, was special. Asides from the fact that he was a naked mole rat, and henceforth the most superior specimen of pet-hood available at all 2,340 Smarty Mart locations, he had an ace up his sleeve – Mystical Monkey Power.

With a series of death-defying (quite literally) leaps, bounced, dashes and rolls, he eventually managed to dodge all of the oncoming traffic and arrive at the other side of the road. He collected himself for a moment, letting the Monkey Power subside into his chi and then exhaled deeply.

He had just five more miles and about 200 years left to go. He could do it, he knew he could, but first he had a more pressing mission to complete.

Hitting up Ned for some nachos. It's hard to save your best friend and the universe on an empty stomach.

-

Ron Stoppable slowly woke up from his nap. His neck was a little sore and he realized it was because his head had rested at an odd angle on the… couch?

"_Ugh… I must have fallen asleep in the parlor, something warm… on my lap. Warm and… wet?_"

Years and lifetimes spent reacting to improbably deadly situations had honed his mind to the point where it was instantly able to shake off the effects of drowsiness when he felt he was in danger. His body had actually sent a rather large dose of adrenaline to his heart and was about to pounce when he noticed the mass of black curls in his lap.

"_Shego!_"

Ron's body was tensed and he was about to leap up when he saw her slumbering form before him. She was lying down, mostly on the couch, her knees curled up against her chest. The surprising thing of course, was the fact that she had her head nestled firmly in his lap. It was an unusual experience to say the least. In fact if anyone had ever mentioned to him that he would be sitting on a couch in the 19th century with Shego curled up on his lap like a kitten, he would have thought it more probable that he would have gotten a foot massage from Monkey Fist.

He looked down at Shego, he could barely make out her features in the dwindling lamplight, but he had to admit that she looked rather adorable and even a little vulnerable. He was reminded briefly of the wetness on his crotch and he instantly saw the cause – Shego, slumbering peacefully in his lap, had her mouth half open and had been drooling right on his essential Ron-ness.

"_Ugh, scratch adorable – more like gross._"

Slowly, the absurdity of the situation began to sink in and a deep belly laugh started to form in his body. Life was weird, he would be the first person to attest to that, but nothing could top the sublime awk-wierdness of the sight before him. As the laugh finally reached his lips he saw Shego start to stir a little bit and almost on impulse he reached a hand down to rub the back of her head. She quickly stopped her restless motions.

Ron momentarily reflected on how _soft_ her hair felt in his hands and he sighed inwardly. He knew he had to be pretty hard up when he was starting to have feelings like this for one of his archenemies, a woman who had more or less tried to kill him on several occasions. Shego wasn't bad looking… no actually she was fairly beautiful, in an exotic and deadly way. She had always been rather lithe, with tantalizing curves and a good figure, but her body had undergone some changes ever since he had brought her to his estate.

When Shego had first arrived she was so dreadfully skinny and malnourished he barely believed it was her. He remembered picking her up in his arms when he had delivered her from _Bedlam_ and remarking to himself how impossibly light and fragile she felt. At that moment Ron Stoppable had strongly urged Timothy North to do whatever he could to save her life and to not include her in his plans against Fiske. However as the months moved on and Shego recovered her vitality, the voice of Ron became a lot less strident and the cool, calculating logic of Timothy had once again started to assert control.

These were the thoughts that he was lost in when his hand reached out and started to rub Shego's hip. He hadn't intended it to be a sexual gesture on his part; in fact that was the furthest thing from his mind. He had just been remembering the look on her face, the look of terror and fear and perhaps a little desperate hope, when he had cradled her semi-conscious body in his arms. The touch from him was more of a consoling one, like the kind a parent would give to a child. He was actually surprised when he saw her body respond to his gentle motion with a visible shudder; it wasn't the reaction that he would have expected.

He knew that if he wanted to get anything done tonight, or even get any sleep of his own, then he would have to move. Moving himself also meant moving Shego, and he concluded that even though her figure was much more voluptuous these days, she would still be incredibly light in his arms. He moved his hands down beneath her back and gently lifted her as he lifted himself from the couch. She had almost stirred awake, but it seemed that his movements were slow enough to not draw her back from her dreams.

As Ron started to carry her slumbering form towards her boudoir, a faint trickle of firelight landed on her face and he was momentarily distracted. He couldn't understand exactly what he was seeing at first, but then it dawned on him that Shego, despite her villainous past, looked like an angel when she was asleep. It reminded him a lot of Kim. Of course the sad part was that neither one of the women were what you'd exactly called an angel. The difference between them he supposed was that Shego was honest about it and that Kim waited until she had your heart in her teeth before you found out.

He wrestled briefly with the handle of the door, juggling the sleeping woman in his arms and causing a slight sound to escape her lips. Eventually he won the challenge and entered the room. The first thing he had noticed was that Shego had done a little redecorating, probably with the help of Iris. There were various storerooms in his estate that held many objects d'art, investments or loot from his many adventures. It was obvious that some of those objects have been moved to adorn this room. He didn't particularly care that much, he had given Iris permission to decorate the rooms any way she pleased and she seemed to be thrilled at the prospect. He looked around as he strode to the bed and noted that Shego seemed to have a decidedly eastern taste, painted screens and fans featured prominently in the room. He approved, it was similar to his own.

He leaned over the bed and gently laid Shego on top of the sheets. He went to move away when suddenly he felt her hands grip around his arm. He looked at her, wondering what she wanted, and then realized that she was still asleep. The look on her face was one that he hadn't seen before, her eyes were clenched closed and she was biting her lower lip He put his hand over hers in order to remove her grasp, but as soon as he started to peel away her finger she started to shake and whimper a little bit. Somewhere in the back of his mind Ron Stoppable took over and the hand that had been moving to remove her touch started instead to gently caress the back of her hand and wrist.

"_What's happened to her? She hasn't said one word about her time at the asylum, could it be that she's still having nightmares about it?_"

He wanted to laugh a little bit at himself at the thought that Shego, of all people, would have nightmares, but then he started to think about it some more. He reluctantly knew that sometimes people who seemed strong, were actually quite weak on the inside. Kim had been that way. Under her seemingly unflappable confidence and her motto of, "_She can do anything!_" was actually a girl, just like other girls, that sometimes felt ugly, or worried about what people thought of her, or even believed that her boyfriend who loved her more than anything in the world was cheating on her…

Ron wondered why people had to be so weak, including himself.

Still holding Shego's hands in his own, he moved to the side of the bed and sat down. He was rubbing her fingers now and she had stopped her shaking but the whimpering continued. He was overcome with doubt, "_Am I doing the right thing? Is it ok to use her like this?_" These were the questions that Ron asked over the protests of his cool, calculating other self. The kindness he had shown Shego was genuine, it was part of the most basic aspect of his personality, but the flirting… that was all North. North wanted to use Shego and he wasn't stupid, he had seen how she had been looking at him and he had taken note of her seemingly confused and vulnerable demeanor. It would be so easy to manipulate and use her, to make her follow his every command. All he had to do was cross a line, easily crossed actually, and push her a little bit.

His hand moved from hers and started to peel away the mass of curls that had pooled onto the side of Shego's cheek. She stirred a little bit and then her eyes started to open.

"T-Tim?" she croaked, half asleep.

"It's ok Bella, you were having a bad dream," he responded in a soft voice while he continued to caress to the side of her face.

Shego didn't push aside the soft, warm hand that was rubbing against her. It was a surprise actually, but not one that she didn't welcome. She had been having another terrible dream, snatches of pain and hurt and humiliation from her time at _Bedlam_. She hadn't quite managed to arrive in the "real world" yet and her eyes were trying to focus and discern where she was.

"Oh," she said, "I'm in my room…" It was more of a question than a statement.

"We fell asleep on the couch together and I brought you here." Ron adjusted his position on the bed so that he was facing Shego and then he ran the back of his hand down her cheek.

"Are you ok? Do you need to talk about it?" he asked.

The question was more Ron than North, but he was able to justify it because it fit into North's plan of seduction and manipulation.

Shego thought for a moment. It was nice, even kind of sweet, that he was concerned about her. The bed felt soft and comfortable beneath her and the touch of his hand was reassuring. She knew that she was falling for this kind, gentle man, but still there were just some thing that she didn't feel ready to talk about.

She smiled at him and said, "No, it's fine. Thank you for…" she couldn't believe what she was about to say, "… taking care of me."

She wondered when the last time a man had comforted her and sadly came to the conclusion that it had been her father when she was a little girl.

"Any time Bella. Any time you need me, just ask." Ron replied smoothly.

Shego felt warm when she heard those words and her heart, which had been frightened and unsure, suddenly felt at peace. All memories of her nightmare were instantly banished and she felt for the first time in many years, safe and secure. She noticed that he was removing his hand and making motions to leave, so she made up her mind to do something impulsive. Her hands reached out and grasped around his retreating arm. Shyly at first and then later with more force, she pulled herself up to him. She could see the look of confusion on his face and she wondered if perhaps he was unused to women from this time being so assertive. She suddenly became afraid, worried that if she followed her heart, it would drive this seemingly wonderful man away.

All thoughts of worry were instantly banished from her mind when he turned around and reached out his arms to embrace her. She eagerly returned the embrace and buried her head in his shoulder. She realized, probably for the first time, just how much her internalized self-loathing had actually been holding her down. The rough, abrasive personality that she carried around to hide her insecurity had been a mistake, a terrible mistake. She had thought it had kept her safe from feeling pain, but all it had done was slowly kill her by degrees. In the warmth of this amazing embrace, she started to feel that maybe she wasn't quite as awful as she had feared.

Ron was stunned, to say the least. The calculating part of his mind had expected something like this, but sometime off in the future. Together, the two parts of his psyche struggled to decide what the right thing to do was. When he finally brought her head into his hands and started to move in to kiss her, he wasn't sure exactly which part of him had won the debate.

Shego was crying. Here she was, kissing someone she really liked and she was crying. She felt a little stupid, but there wasn't anyway for her to stop herself. The walls she had built around her heart had finally cracked, releasing a deluge of emotion and tears. She was dimly aware of the hands that were wiping away the wetness on her cheeks as she tried desperately to lose herself in the kiss. She poured every single drop of emotion and hope that she had into the contact, like it was a plea saying, "_Please, be real_".

She felt herself slowly being pushed onto her back and then the reassuring weight of North settled over her as he continued the kiss, bringing his chest to rest on her own. Her arms went out and draped behind his neck, pulling him in with a sense of urgency that surprised even her. She was losing herself in the whirlpool of her own feelings. His hand started to slowly travel up her side, sending a shiver of delight down her spine and a warm flush through her body. Her breathing started to increase.

Shego found herself returning North's kiss with renewed passion as her skin started to burn with new life. She had felt so dead, for so long, that it was almost a new experience to her, like she was rediscovering something about herself that she had misplaced or forgotten. Suddenly she felt his hand move to her top and gently caress her breast. She responded by moaning into his mouth. It felt so good and so right and she decided that she had never wanted anything so bad in her entire life. Her hands went up to his chest and started to undo the buttons of his shirt. A small opening appeared and her fingers were eagerly thirsting for the contact of his hard chest.

North moved his kisses from her lips and started to pay attention to the nape of her neck. It drove her crazy and she was impressed that he had managed to find her weak spot so quickly; it was like he was the perfect lover for her. Without even realizing it, she had moved her legs open, making room for him to rest his knees while he leaned over her. The situation that had begun to boil as the result of that first impulsive embrace was quickly starting to steam. Her mind raced and she contemplated giving herself over completely to her passions and the man that was tenderly nuzzling her neck. She was totally overwhelmed by the intense sensations of their erotic foreplay, so she didn't realize until it was too late that one of his hands had snaked up her dress. The soft touch of his fingers against her most sensitive of areas brought her mind lurching to a halt and her lust crashing down around her ears.

"N-N-NO!" she screamed as fear latched its talons into her heart.

She was confused. She didn't know what had come over her. Just moments before she was feeling like she was on cloud nine and her heart had been racing with desire, but now that same heart was cold and lost in the grip of panic. She didn't even realize that in her confusion she had hit and tossed her erstwhile lover to the floor.

To his credit, North didn't seem to be particularly upset at her as he picked himself up from the ground. He looked for a moment like he wanted to reach out to her and try to tell her that everything would be ok, no matter what. However it seemed that he wasn't quite ready, or maybe willing, to make that promise. So instead, he merely whispered, "I'm sorry" and then left Shego sitting alone in the soft lamplight of her room.

The panic that had held onto her just moments ago was instantly replaced by a feeling of sadness and self-loathing. She had just witnessed the ultimate confirmation of her own pathetic inadequacy and she felt completely worthless as she watched the door to her room close. She cried when she thought about the man on the other side of that door, who was probably leaving to his own rooms and wondering why she had rejected him. She wondered why she had rejected him too.

Her hands went up to her lips. She could still taste him and it filled her heart with regret that he was gone. For the life of her she couldn't understand what had come over her and she hated herself probably more than she ever had in her entire life. How could she have been presented with something so perfect, something that she had wanted so much, and then lose it all in a moment of insanity. She had never been a particularly introspective woman so the answer didn't come easy to her, but she was at least able to remember the feeling that she had when her mind had decided to betray her heart. It was the feeling of terror that she had only experienced once before, a feeling so profound and sickening that it could only be described in one word.

_Bedlam._

She couldn't get the leering faces of the men who had raped her out of her mind. They had done terrible things to her body while she was powerless to resist and as much as that had hurt her, she was only beginning to realize the true extent of the damage.

"_Damage,"_ she thought, "_That's the perfect word for me. I'm damaged goods. No man, especially a man like Tim, would ever want to be with me if he knew the truth._"

She sat there, berating herself and crying for hours until eventually she couldn't stay awake any longer. The sun rose soon after her head had finally hit the pillow and her tears were all spent, but she herself wouldn't rise until much later. The graying light of the dwindling winter afternoon would be the first thing that she would see when she arose, and for some reason she felt it was appropriate - the weak and cold rays were a perfect mirror of the feelings in her heart.

-

As Ron Stoppable lay awake in his bed he miserably lamented what was wrong with him. He had rushed his plans a little bit, but everything had seemed like it was going so well. He could remember the warm flush of her body and the intensity of her kiss and even the tantalizing moan she had let out when he had touched her. It seemed that despite what he had originally thought that Shego would be a very willing target of his seduction. Of course, then it went all terribly wrong.

He had gotten a little ahead of himself, perhaps pushed things a little too fast. She seemed so eager and the way she was moaning at his caress and biting on his lip had spurred him on to take his gambit a little further than he had originally planned. He had wanted use his fingers to make her melt, maybe even make her cum, and then he would kiss her goodnight and leave her breathless and wanting more – wanting him. It was all part of his plan; he had thought to himself that if Shego would fight so hard for an idiot like Drakken, what kind of things would she do for a lover?

He still vividly remembered the way her body had froze up the instant he had gone in to touch her delicate rosebud, it wasn't something he would soon forget. The look on her face as she threw him off her was something that he was unprepared for. He had been expecting perhaps lust, hunger, hatred, annoyance and maybe even love, but he would never have though to see fear - cold, unadulterated and overwhelming fear. The part of his personality that was still the kindhearted and loving person he used to be had wanted to reach out to her and comfort her, but he didn't know how, or even if, he could do that. So instead he pathetically said, "I'm sorry" and then left back to these rooms.

He concluded that the thing that bothered him the most about the encounter wasn't that his plan didn't unfold correctly, it was the feeling of pain he had when Shego had pushed him away. It was yet another thing about tonight that wasn't in his calculations.

"_What the hell is wrong with me? She's Shego. Enemy. Villain. Tool. That's all she is, a tool. A tool for me to use against Fiske and then discard when I'm done with her._"

He told himself this over and over trying to make his conscience believe it. He had failed so many times in the past to stop Fiske and end this dreaded time loop. He was convinced that Shego had to be the key to his ultimate victory. What could he do if she wouldn't co-operate? What could he do if she decided to team up with Fiske? He needed to guarantee that she would do what he wanted, when he wanted it. He needed to have her under his thumb. At first he had wondered how he was going to accomplish this feat, but then amazingly enough Shego herself had provided the inspiration for her own slavery.

She had done it with a look.

It was a subtle look and one that Ron wouldn't have caught if he was still the same stupid, oblivious Ron that went to Middleton high school, but he had lived many years since then and he recognized it almost immediately. When he saw the heated glance from her and the feelings that were buried beneath it he understood that he had been given the key to the golden chains of servitude that he would bind around Shego's neck. It had seemed to be almost too good to be true. And perhaps it was.

"_Maybe I was just overconfident in my own abilities. I've been plotting and scheming for so long that I've just become used to everything going my way. It's easy to feel that you are in control of everyone around you when you understand intimately how the future will affect them._"

Ron's reoccurring existence had given him an insight into the way the world worked that other people could only guess at. He admitted that because of this he had become perhaps a little too arrogant. Arrogance had always been a part of his personality although he seldom exhibited it. Mostly this was because he usually didn't have anything to be arrogant about in the first place. Things here were different though. He knew almost _everything_ that was going to unfold during his current lifetime and because of this he felt omniscient and more than a little powerful.

For instance he knew that in two weeks one of the men that he often played cards with was going to die of a heart attack. Sure he didn't cause the heart attack, but he _knew_ about it and the only other person who could claim that knowledge was God. He didn't think that this actually made him God; he just sometimes thought that maybe he was on another plane than the people around him. He knew all sorts of things about the people around him and events that were going to unfold. He knew that right this instance he could call Iris up to his room and command her to bed him and she would eagerly comply – he had done as much once before in a past life.

He had learned rather painfully that when he fell in love with someone that only he would be the one to remember their feelings when he woke up from the time retraction. It had been a painful experience that he didn't want to remember, but yet he lived in the same house with the best reminder of all – the woman herself. Even now, four life times removed, he still felt a pain in his heart whenever he thought of their brief and ultimately doomed romance.

The time that he had fallen in love with Iris began just like the previous times he had arrived in England. He had put out word that he was looking for hired help to run his first household, not the Richmond estate, and just like always Iris was the first person to arrive. She would be younger than she was now, but then again so was he at the time, and her stern look had not yet completely set on her face. Instead she was what people might describe as "bookish" or "studious". Just like the first time he had met her, Ron had instantly taken a liking to her because of her no nonsense demeanor and kind heart.

It had been a hard time for Ron and he was beginning to question the reason why the Monkey King had granted him his reoccurring memories. He had often wondered what it would be like to just _live_ his life instead of spending it in perpetual combat with Fiske and he was feeling more than a little sorry for himself. One night when he was lost in these kinds of thoughts he had begun to drink heavily and Iris had found him passed out in his study several hours later. Surprisingly enough she didn't call any of the men to help her carry him to his room and took it upon herself to perform that task.

The night had been hot and the famous English humidity hung in the air like an omnipresent blanket of moisture. His shirt was soaked with sweat and Iris was changing it for him when he had woken up from his stupor. He was feeling sad, depressed and extremely lonely.

"Iris… thank you" he had said to her.

Iris had blushed at him, smiled and said, "No need to thank me Master North."

She paused for a moment and then said very softly, probably thinking that he was too drunk to notice, "I'd do it anyway…"

Ron was inebriated, but he was still able to catch that look. It was after all one that he was intimately familiar with – loneliness. He instantly shook off the lingering effects of his intoxication and took Iris by the hand.

"Iris, come to bed with me." He had said it partially as a joke and partially out of a terrible need for human companionship. He had expected Iris to blush and brush it off as drunkenness and then she would leave, but instead she shook out her hair and started to disrobe.

It was a strange thing to watch. Iris was so methodical about removing her clothes that it was like watching someone put away books in a shelf and not like watching a strip tease. Soon she was completely nude and Ron caught himself thinking that her strange demeanor and the moonlight made her look like some fairy creature. Ron had wanted to say something, to protest a little bit and tell her, "I was just joking!" but then he caught the look in her eyes and realized that she was committed to her actions. They made love that night until Ron collapsed in exhaustion, his stamina finally succumbing to the combined assault of alcohol and sex.

The next morning he woke up and noticed that he was alone in his bed. A wave of nausea came over him as he thought back to the events of the night before and what he had done to Iris. He had thought himself to now be a rapist because even if he had not forced her into his bed at threats of violence, he had most likely abused his position of authority over her. Although by the legal standards of the day he was most likely without guilt, that fact did little to ease his conscience and he spent most of the day berating himself and wondering how he was going to make it up to her.

The solution it seemed was actually easier than he had thought. That night, long after everyone else had gone to sleep, a slender, solitary figure slipped quietly into his room. He woke up to the sensation of naked flesh pressed against him and a gentle caress between his legs. It took him a moment to sort out what was happening before he finally spoke.

"Iris?", he softly murmured.

"I'm sorry Sir, I just can't help it. You can send me away in the morning if you must, but please, just for tonight, let me be your woman again." Iris's voice was warbling and quaking with emotion.

Ron tried to make heads or tails of what he was hearing. Was this really Iris, the reserved and subdued Iris that he knew? He had cared about her, even cherished her wit and humor, but he had always thought of her as more of the "librarian" type and completely not interested in him in this way. As he was thinking this he suddenly felt a gentle, but firm, squeeze below his belt and then watched in amazement as Iris was leaving a tender trail of kisses down his chest.

In that moment he decided that every thing he had ever heard about sexy librarians was true.

He didn't send Iris away the next day, or the day after that, or the week that followed, or even in the months and years that she stayed by his side. She had steadfastly refused to get married to him; she had been working so long under his employment that she was afraid to scandalize him. Still, he never took another woman to his bed for as long as he lived. It wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but it was warm and loving and even a little naughty at times. In other words, it was about as perfect as anyone could care to dream for.

He loved her dearly up until the moment that she died.

It had been some strange sort of sickness that the doctors during this time period could not identify. Ron himself had his own suspicions, when he was a young boy his mother's sister had died of ovarian cancer and he had watched her literally waste away once the disease had metastasized and taken over all her cells. He would never know for sure what exactly had struck his love down, but he knew that it was about 200 years too early for him to do anything at all other than share the last moments of her life with her.

The next time he was born again he didn't make the mistake of waiting 10 years till he took Iris to his bed. He remembered being agitated and nervous like a school kid on the day that he knew she would be arriving to look for employment. He had spent the night before rehearsing his best charming lines and preparing himself mentally for the reunion. But when the time finally came and she walked up those long steps to the front door, he took one look at her and started to weep. He wanted so desperately to run out to meet her, to take her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her, to resume their relationship right where they had left off. Of course the reality of the situation was different. Iris didn't have the memories of their past life together, in fact the woman walking up those steps didn't even love him. He knew it mentally, but emotionally it was difficult to deal with.

Ron spent the next two years of his life getting to know this younger Iris, the one that he had overlooked previously until it was almost too late. Much to his surprise, she was almost the same as the older version of herself. Her figure was trimmer, her breasts were firmer and her face did not yet possess her trademark sternness, but she was still in every way the woman that he had loved so passionately. He made a resolution to himself that this time around, he would do the thing he had always wanted to do, regardless of how she might protest. He would make her his wife.

The wooing process took longer than Ron had anticipated, which was both amusing and frustrating to him. The younger Iris had the same wit and cleverness as the older one that he had known, but she hadn't spent years pining after his love and it showed. She brushed off his advances, politely declined his invitations to join him for dinner and even went so far as to make other girls bring him his afternoon tea. Slowly he began to wonder if somehow he had made a mistake. He feared that he had changed history and because of this Iris never came to fall in love with him. In the back of his mind he entertained the dark thought of just dying for the sole purpose of getting a fresh start with the woman he loved.

Eventually the stress became too much for him to bear and he resolved to just make his feelings plain and see what would happen. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and as such Iris was free to do whatever she pleased during these times. Of course, he knew where she would be. It was summer and the garden was in full bloom and he knew that Iris, _his_ Iris, loved to sit in the afternoon sun reading and inhaling the scent of blossoms. He was happy when he saw her figure reclining beneath a willow tree, even if she didn't remember him, he was happy that he had remembered her so well. Slowly he made his way across the lawn and silently sat down next to her. The novel she had been reading was in her lap and her eyes were closed and her head was tilted to the side. Ron smiled at her dozing visage; it was just as beautiful as he had remembered it to be.

"Iris…" he began reluctantly.

Iris had not truly been sleeping, only resting her eyes, but she was still startled at the soft voice in her ear.

"Y-yes!" she said with a start, sitting up ramrod straight and looking around quite flustered.

Ron grinned a little bit and continued, "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you…"

"Oh, Master North. Do you need me for some chore? It's my day off but if it's important…" her voice trailed off and Ron thought, or at least hoped, that there was a hint of a blush to her face.

"No, nothing like that. I just want to talk to you… is that ok?" Ron said this as softly and as calmly as he could. Inside, he was a raging tempest of emotions, but externally he wanted to portray his normal cool demeanor. He didn't want to frighten Iris before he said what he had to say.

"Oh, I suppose so sir." Iris smiled her familiar crooked little smile, it was something that people didn't see very often but a sight that Ron had come to be very fond of. In this life, just like her past one, it seemed that she only showed it to him.

"Iris, I've been thinking for a very long time and I wanted to tell you something." He paused for effect and then took her hand into his own. Iris was a little shocked, but she didn't pull away.

"Iris, I love you." He declared, putting every unsaid hope and wish into those three little words as he could muster.

Iris looked at him for a moment and then said, "No. No sir, I can't." She then began to rise to her feet.

Ron was stunned.

"Wait, What do you mean by 'No you can't?', did you hear what I said? I love you." Ron had also taken to his feet and was now trailing behind Iris as she strode across the lawn making for the house.

"I mean I can't sir. I don't want to be your mistress I want to…" abruptly she stopped what she was saying.

"_What does she mean by 'mistress'? Is that what she thinks I want from her? She's wrong, she's so wrong._"

Ron reached out and caught her arm and turned her to face him.

"Iris, I mean this very sincerely. I love you. I've loved you ever since the moment I laid eyes on you." He stated firmly. It was true, he had fallen in love with her in another life, but still the moment he had seen her walking up those steps he knew that his love for her had survived their own deaths.

"Sir…" Iris looked confused and her face was clouded with indecision, "I'm getting married." She stated flatly.

Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Married? When? Who?" Iris had never told him that she had a man in her life when she had started to work for him. She had never mentioned to him anything about a supposed marriage. It was all so damn confusing and his stomach did a flip at the thought of her in another man's arms.

Iris could see the look of hurt on Ron's face and for a moment she had regretted saying what she did. However, she knew, that the marriage her family had arraigned was the best solution for both of them.

"I'm didn't mean to spring this on you so suddenly, I had planned to…" Iris could barely continue talking when she saw the look on Ron's face. Suddenly her voice cracked and she let loose a body wracking sob.

Ron didn't understand what was happening, but when he saw Iris begin to cry he did what came natural to him and he moved in to comfort her. He draped his arms around her and to his surprise she didn't pull away, instead her crying just intensified.

"Iris… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you pain." Ron was heartbroken, but he couldn't live with himself if he had hurt her.

Eventually after long moments, Iris began to talk again, not moving from Ron's grasp.

"I knew that this would happen. I'm… happy, but it's not right." Her sniffles started to subside and she looked as if she had made up her mind about something.

"Iris…" Ron was at a loss of what to do. Here was the woman he had spent long years loving and now he was about to let her slip out of his life yet again. Except this time it wasn't death and sickness that were taking her away, but another man.

"No sir, I'm afraid this is the right thing to do. I'm lucky, terribly lucky, that a man like you would be interested in a plain woman like me, but I can't live such a scandalous life." The look in her eyes was a mixture of sadness and regret and Ron finally began to understand what she was saying to him.

"_She's doesn't believe me._"

Ron held Iris's hands firmly in his own and looked into her eyes with conviction. He paused for a moment to make sure that she was focused only on his face and then he began to speak, "Iris, I don't want a mistress. I want a wife."

Iris looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Sir…" she began, but Ron interrupted her.

"No, Iris. I want you to believe me. Believe me when I say this – I love you, I want to marry you."

The tears that had started to dry up started flowing freely again and Iris was shaking softly. Her brain started to form another protest.

"But Sir…"

This time Ron silenced her with a kiss. He could feel the soft warmth of her lips against his and he knew in the moment of that kiss that she was his. Slowly their lips parted. For long moments Iris stood there, seemingly stunned by the outpouring of emotions and her own shaking heart. Her calm rational side tried to assert itself, to tell her that she was a fool, to tell her that she would only bring ruin upon the reputation of the man she loved, the man that she had decided she could no longer stay with because it hurt her heart too much to see him every day. She loved him, truly she did, and that was why she had resolved to leave him, to save him from himself.

"Iris, here is your last order as my employee – you are to address me as Timothy, Tim or Husband. I'll respond to nothing else."

Ron broke into one of his famous grins and Iris told her rational side to stuff it, but it wouldn't quite give up yet.

"Are you sure? Are you sure you want to be with an old maid like me?" She had meant to say it in a serious tone, but it had come out more pleadingly than stern.

"Iris, you are not an old maid, and yes I am sure. I haven't been so sure of anything in my life. Please, I beg you, believe me."

"But…" Iris was still protesting, she had resigned herself to her fate and this sudden change of fortune had completely overwhelmed her.

"Iris, I'll go fetch the Bishop this instant if that's what it takes to prove this to you. He wouldn't dare refuse me, men like myself are used to getting what we want!" Ron said this jokingly and it brought a smile to Iris's face. That same crooked smile that he loved so much.

"Iris?"

"Yes?"

"I want you." He leaned in for another kiss and this time it was returned with passion.

They actually didn't get married that day, even though Ron was serious about it. He had money, and a lot of it, so he knew he could get away with pretty much anything he wanted to – his reputation be damned. He was never really one to care about what other people thought of him, a relic perhaps from his former life as an odd ball in Middleton. Iris on the other hand was horrified at the prospect of an immediate marriage, not only because of the hit Ron's reputation would take but also because her family would never forgive her. Eventually they decided that a month, even though it was a scandalously short period, would provide a long enough period of time to resemble a serious engagement.

Iris's world was turned upside down that day. In the morning she had woken up in the employ of Mr. Timothy North, financial genius and the richest man in the Empire and just that afternoon she had become his fiancée. Ron instantly had a letter sent to Iris's parents, requesting that her family immediately come to his estate - It would have been quite scandalous for an engaged couple to live under the same roof without the woman's relatives being present and he was concerned for Iris's reputation. That night however, he managed to get Iris to make one concession and he had her moved from the servants quarters to a more well-appointed apartment within his home. There was quite a bit of confusion and gossip at first from the people under his employ, but he quickly squelched it by announcing their engagement to them. There was some muttering from a few of the maids, probably more cursing Iris's luck than anything, but on the whole people were surprised and a little amused. They had long ago gotten used to the eccentricity of their boss and to be truthful they were all a little fond of Iris.

On a breezy summer morning three days later, Iris's mother and her sister arrived on his doorstep and he welcomed them as best he could. He had known them both in his past life and he knew that while her mother seemed to be a harsh woman, she cared very much about the welfare of her children. The prospect of her daughter marrying into wealth was nice, but if her daughter were going to be ill-used then it wouldn't matter one bit - a fact that she made known to Ron. Ron eventually managed to win the woman over, but not by lavishing her with gifts or promises of financial assistance, but instead by just being himself. Eventually Iris's mother came to realize that this strangely eccentric man loved her daughter deeply and it was with great joy that she was able to give her consent to the marriage.

All in all, everyone was fairly happy, even the distant cousin that Iris had been engaged to sent them well wishes. Truthfully he had been a bit of a confirmed bachelor for many years and was reluctant to give up the lifestyle. He had only consented to the engagement under pressure from his family and was more than a little relieved to be free of his duty. Ron actually met the man at the wedding and he thought to himself, while eagerly anticipating the night ahead, that the man would surely kill himself if only he knew Iris like he did.

Finally the big day came and much as Ron and Iris had expected, their nuptials made the news across the globe. Some men thought he was a fool, he could have any woman he wanted in the world with his fantastic wealth after all. Some women, mostly older and bitter types, had turned Iris and what she must have done to snag such a rich husband, into the talk of much gossip. However, to a lot of people, especially girls of the middle and lower classes, it seemed that the marriage was the fulfillment of a fairy tale promise they had all read as children and they were envious, but hopeful for the both of them as well as themselves.

Still none of this mattered to Ron. He was happy, living a second life with the woman that had captured his heart and he was determined that this time around he would treat her to the type of life she deserved. Still, old habits die hard and occasionally his new bride could be seen supervising in the kitchen, or cleaning up a particularly belligerent spot of dirt, or repairing her husbands clothes and otherwise taking care of his affairs. Ron allowed her to do these things, but only became they made her happy. She felt that she had to do _something_ to justify being his wife, even though he constantly told her that just loving him was enough.

Ron was grimly aware of the ticking clock that hung over Iris's head and he did everything he could to try and delay the inevitable. He forced her to change her eating habits, begged her to rest when she was tired and even managed to teach her tai-chi and some shaolin meditation techniques. Iris had probably thought that her husband was a little crazy, but she humored him and in fact she was touched that he took such a great concern in her affairs. It was more than she had ever hoped for and if she ever paused to think about it, she was overcome with emotion and a few tears.

Eventually however, the inevitable came and Iris once again fell sick. Ron's efforts had managed to garner them three more years of health and he had cherished every moment of them. On one of the nights, when she hung on the precipice of death, Ron was overcome with grief and confessed everything to Iris. He told her of his fantastic life, their past life together, his old life in Middleton, the woman that had broken his heart and the mission that he had abandoned to spend this life time with her. Iris had felt like she should have been more shocked, or at least gripped with disbelief, but strangely enough she had found his words comforting and at long last many things she had been wondering about seemed to be clear.

"It makes a little sense to me Tim. But tell me, what are you going to do when I pass?" She was sick now and her voice that used to have a tinge of bronze to it had shrunk to a tinny whisper.

"I'll do it over again. I'll spend another life with you, as much as I can, as often as I can." He had replied with all seriousness.

"Don't." she said.

Ron was stunned, this was not the response that he was expecting from her.

"Iris…" he began to complain.

"No Tim… or Ron I suppose it is, don't do this to yourself please. You've given me everything I've ever wanted, you've given me a life full of love that I had not dare to hope for. I can't bear to sit here, dying on this bed, knowing that once it's over for me that you'll have to suffer through this parting again." She was getting weaker and her voice was coming in ragged gasps.

"But Iris, I can't help it. I love you and…"

Iris locked her gaze on him and her face became deathly serious.

"Husband, answer me this – How much longer can you do this? How much longer can you suffer through these lives before you go mad?" she coughed at the end of her statement, her breath rattling in her throat.

Ron paused for a moment and he knew what Iris was trying to say to him. He remembered the pain and indecision that had gripped him when he had thought Iris was going to rebuff him and marry another man. Could he go through that again? What if he did something wrong and she did leave his life? Could he live through a life knowing that he had blown his chance with this amazing woman? Would he wish to die instead, so he could start over? Could he live life upon life knowing that no matter what he did, things would always end with the two of them in this darkened room and him watching her life fade from her?

"Iris… I can't stop loving you." He finally said.

"You don't have to, you can love me as much as you want, but love _me_ please, not the woman that you'll meet again. And no, I'm not being jealous of myself… it's just, this life has meant so much to me and I want it to mean something to you too…" her voice trailed off as the darkness was closing in.

Ron understood what she was trying to say and he knew that Iris was right. The time they had spent together had been the best years of his life, far surpassing everything he had ever experienced before in every single way possible. He wanted to hold Iris deep in his heart and never let her go. He made a silent promise at that moment both to himself and to the woman before him.

"I understand." The tears were flowing freely now.

Long minutes passed as Iris seemed to flutter in and out of consciousness, still despite all that, her grip never loosened on his hand. It was if she was trying to use his touch to ground her here in the world of the living. Eventually her eyes opened once more and she pulled gently on Ron's arm. He knew what this meant and he leaned in and placed a warm kiss on her lips. When they broke away, his tears had dried up and she had smiled at him.

That crooked smile, the one he loved so much.

"I love you Husband," she said at last. And with that the soul that had been Iris North passed from this world into the next

Ron was grief stricken but he did his best to honor her wishes. The next time they met, it was hard for him, but he didn't pursue her affections again. He instead focused on being her friend and if he was a little overly generous with her or if he had surprised her with unexpected gifts, it could be forgiven. He reminded himself that Iris, _his _Iris, had passed away and he thought that this remarkably similar woman in front of him would probably have the same feelings as his wife and he would do his best to honor them both.

Now, literally life times away from that memory, he lay in the darkened solitude of his room and wondered why the feelings that he had thought he had mastered were coming back to haunt him. Iris was gone to him, at least the Iris that he had so passionately loved. She had died and he had held her in his arms as her life ebbed away. He would never dishonor that memory or the love of that amazing woman and he had thought at the time that the last remaining part of his broken heart that had been capable of love had passed away with her.

However, now, he was not so sure.

He remembered vividly the comforting warmth of Shego's body in his arms, the fierce look of passion in her emerald eyes and the soft and silky sensation of her hair against his face. His heart had been racing during their brief encounter on her bed and he was ashamed of himself. What he had started as a calculating plan to seduce the woman and bring her to his side had started to go terribly awry. As he turned over and tried to drift off to sleep, he wondered to himself how many life times would it take for him to stop being such a fool.

Love, after all, was not something that was in his plans.

-

A/N: Thanks for continuing to read my little story. The romance really took over this chapter, but it was necessary because I wanted to introduce yet even _more_ roadblocks between the hero and heroine of this story. I know, yes, I am an evil, evil person. I had a hard time writing Shego's part, but I based her reaction to Ron's attempted seduction off of some articles I read about intimacy issues in rape survivors, so I hope that I did a good job and didn't offend anyone who's suffered similarly. I felt like it was a touchy subject for me to write about, but it was the direction that I wanted to take her character in – plus I felt it would be sort of stupid of me to treat her suffering as if it had no long term lasting consequences on her.

Also we got to see a little sneak peek of one of Ron's previous lives. His love affair with Iris the maid! It was pretty tragic I admit, but I think that's the only way to deal with the situation. I had to really put myself into Ron's head and think about all the possible outcomes of his reincarnation (with memories) and what that would do to him if he fell in love. Also I wanted to show that _Kim_ is not the sole focus of his emotions, or hasn't really been for a long time. Sure, he still bears the scars of her betrayal, but even then he was able to overcome them and find real love for a time. This is quite a contrast to the Kim of the future who is still struggling to deal with the results of her own actions, but it sets the stage for an interesting reunion later on I think.

Sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. Mostly it was a couple of problems – First off, it's another huge one from me and secondly my Detroit Tigers clinched the AL championship and their World Series berth on Saturday! I'm so excited, I was 9 years old the last time the Tigers won the World Series and I have high expectations for them this year.

Anyway, thanks for reading again and please review. I was a little disappointed that the last chapter got so few reviews and I don't know if it's because I am losing people or if it's because folks who are reading don't feel like reviewing. It really takes the wind out of my sails to spend so long writing something and then to get such a tepid response. I'm very grateful to the few people who constantly review what I write, you guys are the best and I really enjoy reading your thoughts and it helps me stay focused and keep this story on track, so your help is really invaluable.

Oh and for the next chapter, we are going a little bit back on the action bend after all the drama and romance of this last chapter. Maybe I'll even be able to sneak a certain naked mole rat into the mix.

QC


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Having a Ball

Shego sat alone by the fire in the drawing room that had been provided for her. Even though she had slept away most of the day she was still tired, a fact that she attributed more to her state of mind than any physical sort of deficiency. Still, she hadn't exercised or trained today, or even yesterday for that matter and she was sure that fact also contributed to her feelings of sluggishness.

"_What should I do?_"

It was a question that had voiced itself regularly in her mind since the moment she had awoken. Part of her just wanted to avoid the whole subject, find some clothes, retrieve the money North had offered her, and make her own way in the world. She didn't have her cosmic powers anymore, or at least she suspected she didn't, but she was in much better shape than when she had first arrived and her mind was about as sharp as could be expected given the circumstances. She could make due.

"_I wonder what sort of opportunities are out there for a woman without a college education who's only talent seems to be sarcastic comments and solving problems with her fists?_"

It was a sobering fact of life. In a more modern time she might have been able to find a decent job doing something with her abilities that would have paid, if not well, at least enough to live off of. However she had to face the reality that she was caught in a time and place where such occupations didn't exist for women. The best she could hope for was probably the lot of a domestic servant, like her friend Iris, but that life didn't really appeal to her and she was sure that sooner or later her temper would get her in trouble. Her only other choice it seemed was to resurrect the personality of Shego and continue right where she had left off

The life of a lonely itinerant criminal didn't exactly appeal to her very much anymore. She had, after all, been down that path before and she knew how empty it was, empty of friendship, empty of love, empty of security and trust. She had thought that she had long given up her desire for those simple things but the months that she had spent living under the care of Timothy and Iris had probably ruined her for crime. When she had entered this place her heart was a parched desert, but now that it had tasted kindness she knew that it would thirst for more.

She sighed once and then rose from the chair she was resting in and retrieved a small basket that she had placed by the window. Inside was a project of hers, one that she had actually enjoyed quite a bit and she was hoping by keeping her fingers busy she could at least take her mind off her problems. Sure she knew she had to do something, but she also knew it wasn't pressing and just obsessing about it before _he_ came to talk to her was a waste of time.

She ran her hands once over the smooth fabric and spools of thread in the basket and smiled a little bit. It was amusing to say the least, if Kim Possible could only see her now – "_Shego, arch villainess and arts and crafts enthusiast!_" Shego picked up the hoop that held her pattern and then searched around for the thread that she wanted. There had been dreadfully few things for her to occupy her time with given the lack of her more familiar modern forms of amusement, so she had mentioned something briefly to Iris about it on one of those lonely dinners before Tim had come back from his trip. The end result was that the older woman had arrived at her room later that night with this basket and Shego had gotten her first lesson in cross-stitching.

Shego was never really a woman who enjoyed doing, well _womanly_ stuff. She had felt for some reason that it would have detracted from the image that she was trying to portray. Sure as a little girl she had loved arts and crafts, but her enthusiasm for hand crafted dolls and doll outfits didn't live through her teenage years. She wondered idly if this could be attributed to puberty or to the fact that she spent every moment she wasn't in school out in Go-City fighting crime. She felt a great bitterness towards her brothers, especially Hego. She doubted that he knew, or even cared, how his thirst for adoration and fame had terminated her childhood.

Slowly her fingers began to thread the delicate pattern she was creating and she was lost in the work. Her tongue was protruding from the corner of her mouth and she was lightly biting down, it was a sign to anyone that she was in deep concentration. The pattern itself was one of her own design that had been inspired by some of the decorations that had been placed in her rooms. It seemed that North, like her, had a bit of partiality to Asian designs and she was thrilled when Iris had shown her the room full of painted rice paper screens, fans and furniture that was in storage. She quickly made many choices and had them moved to her rooms. She was arraigning everything to her tastes when she saw it and for some reason it stuck in her head.

Lotus blossoms.

They were carefully painted in detail on one of the fans that she had placed above the hearth in her room. For some reason she found the design, as well as the delicate portrayal of the flowers to be pleasing to her eye. They were fragile, but bold and it reminded her of herself, so when she was contemplating designs for her first project she didn't have to decide long – she knew instantly what she wanted to create.

A knock came at the door and she swore a little under her breath as she pricked her finger with the needle, causing a small droplet of blood to form on her skin.

"Coming!" she called to the door. It was probably Iris with a plate of food. Shego had locked herself in her room today, not really wanting to leave the comforting warmth of her cocoon. She placed her work back in the basket and opened the door, only to be greeted by a surprise.

"Hi there. I thought you might be hungry."

It was Tim, and he was carrying a tray that featured a plate of food and a pot of tea most prominently.

"Tim!" Shego said a little louder than she had intended too. She was so confused, she was certain that after last night he would be avoiding her again and she couldn't blame him.

Ron smiled at her and said, "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting anything…" His eyes went around her shoulder and he noticed the basket she had left out in the open. Shego caught the look and blushed a little awkwardly.

"No, I was just working on a little project…" she fumbled a little bit over the words and then mentally reminded herself that she didn't have to be ashamed of such an activity, after all it was something that was probably highly normal for women of this time who weren't smart mouthed super villains.

"Mind if I see?" Ron said as he moved into the room past Shego. He didn't want to give her time to rebuff him at the door, he wanted to talk to her and apologize for last night. He placed the tray he was holding down on a low table and Shego followed him across the room.

"I'm really an amateur, it's not very good…" Shego was being truthful.

Ron took a look at the hoop that held Shego's design and smiled a little bit. "I like this design, those flowers are my favorites." Shego, of course, didn't know that the lotus was Ron's symbol, if not by choice, then by fate. He placed the craftwork back in its basket and then placed his hand on Shego's.

"Come, sit, I brought you an excellent dinner – if I do say so myself." He grinned a little bit.

Shego was a little surprised at the touch, but not because she didn't _want_ him to touch her, but because she was so sure that _he_ wouldn't want to. She felt her heart skip a little bit while she took her seat.

"What's this?" Ron looked at her hand and saw a little blood on the finger.

"Oh, it's nothing. I poked myself with a …" Her explanation was cut off by Ron's next action. Without giving her any warning, or even time to resist he raised her hand to his mouth and lightly sucked on her bleeding finger.

Shego blushed furiously and everything she had wanted to say completely blanked from her mind.

Softly, Ron removed her finger and then gingerly inspected it. The bleeding had stopped and there were faint traces of his saliva on her wound.

"There, all better," he said softly.

Shego smiled at him and whispered, "Thank you," as she looked nervously around. Things were going much differently, in fact much better than she had hoped for and while she was thrilled that it seemed that North wasn't rejecting her, part of her was wondering when the other shoe was going to drop.

"Is everything ok? You seem surprised to see me," Ron asked.

"_Wow, bulls-eye. This guy is good._" Shego thought to herself. She didn't feel comfortable talking about the real reason for her surprise, so she decided to offer up a plausible excuse.

"Usually Iris brings me dinner…" she offered weakly.

"Oh, well… she wasn't feeling well tonight so I forced her to rest. I'm sorry if you're disappointed." Ron deadpanned.

"No!" it came out of Shego's mouth before she had even realized the sounds were on her lips.

"I mean, no it's fine, it's just… Is she going to be ok?" Shego was trying to cover up her embarrassing eagerness.

She noticed North's face cloud up a little bit and he seemed to be thinking about something.

"Well, it sort of comes and goes, give her a few days and she'll be right as rain. She works really hard," he replied.

Shego thought that from the look on his face that he wanted to say more, but she didn't want to press him. She was feeling lucky enough that he had come to visit her. She looked for the silverware on the tray and once she found it she brought a bite of the meal up to her lips. It was good.

"This is… really good. I'm going to have to compliment Molly." She meant it, it was probably the best meal she had eaten in a long time.

"She might be a little confused if you did."

Shego had her mouth full so instead of asking a question, she bit down to swallow and raised her eyebrows.

Ron laughed, "You're looking at the chef," he stated.

"_Wow all this and he cooks too._"

She finished swallowing and spoke, "You're really amazing." She was embarrassed to say such a thing out loud, but it was the truth. She had thought to herself that in any age this man would have been an incredible catch – and here he was, with her. She resolved to try to make yet another start with him, but first she had to get something off her chest.

"Tim… I'm sorry" she said.

"For?" he looked at her like he didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

Shego was hoping that she could get off easy with just a simple admission as that, however it seemed that if she was going to make up with Tim then she was going to have to go the whole nine yards.

"Last night. I'm really sorry Tim. I don't know… what came over me." There, it was out and now that she had taken that first step she waited patiently to see what he would say.

"Don't be. You know, the reason why I'm here is because I wanted to apologize to you. I feel bad and I want to assure you that your staying here is _not_ on condition that you return my affections. I lost my head a little bit Bella, but I can hardly be blamed – you're a beautiful woman." It was mostly true. He would keep Shego in this house for as long as he could, if not because he was falling for her, but because it would keep her away from Fiske. And yes, while the encounter had started out as a calculating ploy on his part he was unnerved to find it was so easy to lose himself in the face of her passion.

"I think…" she struggled a little with the words, "I think that you misunderstood me."

"How so?" he asked.

Shego looked down at her lap and said in a very soft voice, "The only thing I regret from last night is that I made you stop."

"_There, I said it._"

She was still looking down at her lap, but then she felt something warm touch the side of her face and she turned her head up, only to be greeted by a warm kiss on her lips. The nervousness and the embarrassment that she had been feeling were instantly banished by the intensity that she returned the kiss. She wanted this, wanted it so bad and in her heart she hoped that Tim could accept her with all her flaws.

She felt his arm drape across her back as he pulled her into the kiss and she didn't resist, she had decided instead to enjoy the moment for as long as it would last. Eventually they came up for air and she found that she was literally hanging on his body. She burrowed her face into his shoulder and let out a little sigh, not of sadness but of contentment. She wanted to believe that this man would finally be the one who would love her, even when she herself felt totally unlovable.

"Tim…" she softly began, "I really, really like you. I mean that too. You're the most incredible man in the world to me and I don't mean because of all this…" her arm went out to gesture at the room.

"I mean it because of the way that you've cared for me. I know it sounds cliché, but I've never had a man treat me the way you have."

She moved her face to his cheek and kissed him and then whispered very softly in his ear, "Tim, I think I'm falling in love with you."

Ron was upset at himself. This was part of his plan, part of what he wanted to accomplish, but at the same time he felt dirty for abusing Shego's heart this way. At first he had justified his actions by saying to himself that she was a black-hearted villain, just like Fiske, one that he could use and manipulate without fear because she wasn't a normal person with feelings. Now however he was faced with the grim reality that he had probably done something the he could never forgive. It wasn't because of his feelings for Iris, or because of his lost love with Kim, but because he knew that he had done something that was about the most evil thing you could do to a person. Shego had presented him with her heart and he held it in his hands, ready to break it at a moment's notice.

Shego seemed to be waiting for a response from him and he struggled to come up with an answer that he could give her that was true and wouldn't devastate her. How did he feel about this woman? He thought to himself that if he had been ignorant of her past life, then how would he judge her? He knew now that she was not really evil, like he had thought, but instead she seemed to be almost a victim of her circumstances. He wondered what had turned this sweet and fragile woman to a life of crime and then he was reminded that she _had_ at one time been a hero, like he had wanted to call himself.

"_A hero_", he thought, "_After all that I have done, do I even have the right to refer to myself as that anymore? I've done terrible things, even if they were justified, and here I am holding this woman in my arms and knowing that I've treated her cruelly._"

Ron decided that maybe he wasn't quite as heroic as he had thought, and even if he wanted to do the right thing, that the ends didn't justify the means, at least in regards to the fragile heart that had been offered up to him.

"Bella", he began, "I don't really know how to say this – but I have feelings for you too, I'm just not quite sure what they are." Ron knew it was the truth, even if it wasn't what she had wanted to hear. Her expression betrayed as much.

Shego looked crestfallen, she had told her innermost feelings to Tim and his response, while not an outright rejection, was less than she had been hoping for. She cursed at herself, she had made her heart vulnerable to this man and she knew that now it was too late for her to do anything about it. If her heart would break, or be torn to shreds, it would be of her own doing and not Tim's. She knew that this was the price, the bet that she had placed on her gamble to finally find what she had wanted all her life.

"It's ok Tim, it was wrong of me to put that much pressure on you, especially after what happened last night…" Her voice cracked a little bit and she could feel her eyes starting to tear up. "_No, not now… not now. I need to get through this._"

She started to get up from the couch. She was terrified that he would see her crying and then understand just how pathetic she truly was, but when she had almost gotten to her feet she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her waist.

"Don't go Bella." It was three words, perhaps not the three words that she wanted to hear, but they exerted a pull over her like the Earth's gravity over the Moon– it kept her in place.

Shego felt his arms move up from her waist to her chest, eventually settling below her breasts as he crushed her into a hug. There was something in his words, something in the way that he had said, "Don't go" that had resonated with her. Without removing his arms she turned to face him and then cradled his head to her chest.

"I'm sorry Tim, I keep running up to you and then running away. I don't know what's wrong with me, it's just… I'm so scared. When I'm with you my heart is racing a mile a minute, when you hold me I want to melt. I've… never been in love and you terrify me."

Her watering eyes finally were shedding tears, but there was no sobbing to accompany them. It wasn't as much as she was crying from sadness, but out of relief. Relief that she had finally been able to say with her words what had been in her heart. She was scared, wonderfully scared, and it made her already delicate self esteem feel as fragile as glass. She had needed to express this to him, needed to say it with all her heart and she finally had. Things had not been settled yet, but she had found her courage to show her weakness and she was surprised at how empowering it had been.

Ron took in the words that Shego said to him. He didn't really need to think about them too much, if he had only stopped to listen to his heart instead of his plotting brain, he would have heard them long ago. Part of him was having a hard time reconciling this vulnerable and sensitive woman in his arms with the villain that he had _thought_ he had come to know. But honestly, did he really know her? Had he really given her a chance to be a person and not roadblock or tool?

He pulled her down to him and she didn't resist. For long minutes they did nothing but hold each other on the couch, not even venturing to say a word.

"_How did I let myself get into this situation? Should I continue to play the part? And how do I feel about her? This woman… she's soft, she's sexy, she's vulnerable and sweet. She's… she's been honest to me and I have done nothing but lie to her. She's not the one who's been the villain, I know that now._"

He knew that he had been unfair, but he didn't know how to make it up to her. He tried to concentrate and he tried to call upon North to formulate a plan, but he was having a hard time focusing. The fact that Shego, still in his embrace, had started to nuzzle his neck wasn't helping.

"_God that feels good…_"

It had been a long, long time since Ron had felt anything so good and his body was quickly responding. He was taken back to his memories of last night and how Shego's touch had seemed to kindle a desire in him that he wasn't even aware that he had. He laughed ruefully to himself that it was perhaps _he_ who was falling prey to a seduction.

His hand went out behind her head and he let the curls of her raven hair flow through his fingers.

"_She's so soft…_"

He craned his neck and brought his face against hers. She stopped nibbling on his nape and moved to meet him. For a long second they looked at each other in the eyes and then Ron let his lips trail across hers. It was a light, tentative thing, not the firm passionate kiss that he had given her before. That kiss was a manufactured thing, a gambit his calculating mind had formed to lure her into his trap. This kiss, was one hundred percent pure essential Ron-ness and he used it as a way to sort out his own feelings.

Shego seemed to catch onto his mood and she lightly returned the kiss, but with a twist – she playfully nibbled a little bit on his lip and then laughed. Ron was amazed, it was a small thing, her laugh, but it was light and airy and he thought pure in its expression of joy. Her laugh brought a smile to his own face and he squeezed her hand and began kissing her again. It was not the first time of course, but to him it felt as if it may have been because it was the first time he had put his heart into it.

Shego's mind was reeling at what was happening and at the kiss that she had just experienced. It was so… sweet; she couldn't believe it. It was so unlike any kiss she had ever received before and unlike how he was kissing her last night. Last night was good, she admitted she enjoyed the urgent passion of his lips against hers, but this was something entirely different and she relished it for the new experience it offered. She wondered if when you kissed someone you loved, if their kisses were always so interesting. A naughty thought occurred to her and she took his hand that had been holding hers and softly placed it upon her breast. It didn't take long for Ron to get the idea of what she wanted and soon he was gently caressing her, eliciting a soft moan when his fingers ran across a sensitive protuberance.

"_This is incredible… I thought last night was hot, but I'm absolutely burning now. I want him so bad._"

Shego was no stranger to sexual desire; she was after all a grown woman of twenty-five years of age and had long since learned how good sex could feel. However this was different, the erotic flush of intimate contact was present but underneath it was an urgency that she couldn't fully understand. It was like nothing that she had felt before and it scared her. Slowly she felt the familiar panic from last night start to build up in her chest and she broke apart from their kiss.

"Tim… I want this, but I need to go slow." She said this cautiously, afraid of what his reaction might be. She had already turned him on once and threw him off her; she didn't want to make him feel like she was just toying with his emotions.

"It's ok Bella, I think I could use some time too… to sort out my feelings."

There was an awkward silence between them at that moment as both of them felt a little sheepish and unsure. Shego was the one that decided to end the uncomfortable stalemate.

Leaning in for another kiss she muttered softly to the man she was falling for, "Of course a little bit more of this might be nice…"

Both the food and the fire in the hearth had gone cold by the time they finished their furious make-out session but it didn't bother them that much because in each others arms they had found a warmth that might at last be able to keep the chill of loneliness at bay.

-

Kim ran the smooth material of the red jersey through her hands as if by touching it she could recall _his_ touch. She had complained to Ron that she wouldn't be able to sleep with him gone to Japan and that not even Pandaroo would be able to console her. Ron smiled at her and then removed his jersey from his bag, it was his favorite piece of clothing, and he gave it to Kim.

"Here ya go KP, wear this when you go to sleep and think of me," he had said it so sweetly to her that Kim felt her heart was going to explode with love. She took the jersey from him, but held onto his hand and laughed as he tumbled into bed with her. He might be a little late for his flight, but she was going to have one last taste of Ron-shine before he went to spend three months gallivanting around Japan doing who knew what and probably with Yori.

Kim sighed to herself as she clutched the jersey. Even then she had been jealous of Yori and it bothered her to no end to realize how she had started to construct her fantasy of betrayal before Ron had even left her arms. But why shouldn't she be jealous? She loved Ron so much it made her knees shake whenever she thought of living her life without him in it. And now of course, it seemed like she was going to do just that.

It wasn't the cheating she had done that had separated them so finally, Kim was sure that even though she had hurt Ron that if she begged and pleaded then he would take her back. It was a conceited thought on her part, and she didn't even realize exactly _what_ it said about her, but she nevertheless was correct in her assumption. Ron did love her after all, she had learned as much from Yori and if Ron loved her, then he wouldn't abandon her. He never had before.

Eventually, what had caused the irreparable rift between the two of them was a call she had gotten on her Kimmunicator while she was walking through the lobby of Tokyo International Airport. The familiar tones emanated from her bag and in a moment she had the device open.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim tried to put on her best face even though after her encounter with Yori she had spent the entire night bawling her eyes out.

"Kim…" Wade began. Kim didn't like the tone of his voice and she especially didn't like the look on his face. Something was bothering the young super genius and she wanted to know.

"Spill." She said as she went to place her bag into the x-ray machine before her gate.

"There's no good way to say this Kim, it's just… Ron's gone." Wade looked down at his keyboard.

"What do you mean Wade? I thought he was in Middleton, did he take off again?" Kim was busily digging through her pockets for items to place in the plastic bin.

"No Kim, I mean… he's gone, _gone._ Shego and Monkey Fist attacked the Space Science Center and Ron went to stop them…"

Wade instantly had all of Kim's attention, much to the annoyance of the people that were waiting in line behind her.

"He went alone?" Her eyes were wide. "_Of course he went alone… who else would he take? I deserted him…_"

"Kim, he was close by and I couldn't reach you on the Kimmunicator and…. Oh God Kim, I'm so sorry." Wade buried his hands in his face and started to weep. It was the first time Kim had ever seen the boy cry, or even exhibit any emotion other than his glee over his inventions or his normal laid back cheer.

"Wade… What happened to Ron?" Kim knew, she could just tell by the way Wade was acting, but still a small part of her held out some hope that maybe he was just injured and in the hospital and she could go and see him and apologize and throw herself at his feet and tell him just how much he meant to her.

Wade looked up at the screen a little bit and then wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. His eyes were still leaking tears so he rubbed them until they were clear and then he began to speak, "Kim… there was an accident at the lab. Felix was injured; he suffered major blood loss and is in a coma. Monkey Fist, Shego and Ron… there was a device there and it activated on accident and… " Wade let his voice trail off, this was harder than he thought it was going to be.

"And?" Kim asked, the panic in her voice was palatable.

"They were vaporized Kim, completely broken down to their smallest elements of matter. He's dead Kim, no one could live through that." Wade didn't know how to say it any simpler than that. He knew Kim would want to know exactly _how_ Ron had died, but for perhaps the first time he could remember he really wasn't feeling up to a science presentation.

Kim stared at the Kimmunicator for a moment then she said, "Oh," and turned the device off. She moved forward in the line through the metal detector and retrieved her bag and her keys. Then she walked 20 yards down the hall to a small lobby and sat down on a molded plastic chair in the corner.

And then she completely broke down.

The tears and the wracking sobs have more or less stopped now, but the pain – the numbing pain that she thought she deserved, had not yet abated. As Kim walked over to the wooden coffin, she kneeled down next to Mrs. Stoppable and put her hand on the elder woman's shoulder. She had been too much of a coward to tell anyone, either Ron's family or her own, exactly what she had done to Ron shortly before he had died. Sitting here and comforting his grieving mother, Kim felt like nothing more than a huge hypocrite. She wanted to scream, "_Your son died because I broke his heart! Hate me! Please hate me!_" but instead she said nothing and Ron's mother placed her own hand on Kim's in a comforting gesture that only made Kim despise herself more.

Kim looked at the contents of the coffin. Ron's body had not been found, nor would it ever after what had happened at the lab. So instead of burying his remains his family had decided to hold a memorial where people could put objects into the coffin that reminded them of Ron. This was the reason that Kim had brought the jersey today, although now at the last moments she was having second thoughts. Kim noticed that amongst his personal belongings, his toys, a cook book he had received a present and a heck of a lot of Bueno Nacho, were scattered many pictures, obviously donated by both the Stoppable and Possible families. Almost all of them featured Ron and Kim, arms wrapped around each other and smiling for the camera. There were childhood pictures with bunny ears in the background, junior high pictures of them going to a dance together as "just friends" and then photos of their junior and senior year where the embraces were more intimate and filled with love.

"_I was always holding on to you Ron, why did I ever tell myself I could let you go?_"

Kim had been doing a lot of talking to God recently, or more aptly a lot of bargaining. She had begged over and over that she would do anything if only Ron was ok, she would throw herself at his feet, she would be the perfect girlfriend and even wife if he would still have her, she would even give up missions so that they could spend more time together. There were other people that could save the world, but to Kim there was only one Ron Stoppable and he was utterly irreplaceable. She lamented that it took something like this for her to understand that fact completely.

Kim heard a soft whirr of electric motors behind her and then turned her head. It was Felix, he had been with Ron during the battle with Shego and Monkey Fist and had been injured pretty seriously – still he had regained consciousness a couple of days later and even though he was still weak he wouldn't miss his friends memorial. Monique had been seriously worried about him and had even begged him to stay in bed, saying that they could go together later to Ron's grave and hold their own farewell, but eventually she relented once she began to understand that Felix would not be swayed.

"Kim…" Felix said, he looked like he was struggling with both his emotions and his words.

Kim looked at Felix carefully. He was obviously pale, paler than he should have been, but despite his injuries that didn't seem to be what was troubling him. Then she caught it, a look on his face that was very subtle, almost as if he wasn't trying to show it. She recognized it immediately because she saw it every time that she looked in the mirror.

It was disgust.

Kim started to shake and cry. She didn't know how, Ron must have told him, but she was certain that Felix _knew_ what she had done. Kim didn't know what to do, she wanted to flee, to run away, but at the same time she wanted to accept that glare and bear the full brunt of it's scrutiny. She knew instinctively that she needed the pain, because only if she suffered enough could she ever come to grips with the overwhelming guilt that held her in thrall.

Felix didn't say anything, at least not to Kim and not right then. He merely placed a weathered copy of Zombie Mayhem in the casket and returned to the back of the hall to wait next to his girlfriend.

"Mo?" he said.

"What's up?" she replied.

"I'm going to go home and get some rest. It was good to be here, but I'm tired." Felix stated.

"Baby, I'll go with you…" Monique started to say, but was interrupted.

"Naw, not this time Mo. Stay with Kim, I think she really needs a friend by her right now." Felix said this with as much seriousness as he could muster. He had kept his promise to Ron and had not told Monique about what had occurred between Ron and Kim. Now he was sending his girlfriend away from him when he was grieving so that she could comfort Kim. It made Felix a little upset, but deep down inside he knew that it was what Ron would have wanted. Ron would never have held anything over Kim's head, especially not like this and Felix decided to take that sentiment to heart. He sadly admitted that a person could do a whole lot worse than trying to emulate Ron Stoppable.

Felix was making his way through the parking lot to his custom van when all of a sudden he felt something fly at him and land on his chest. He was shocked for a moment, almost literally jumping out of his chair, but then he realized what had happened.

"RUFUS!" he cried.

The naked mole rat looked tired, worn down and a little thin, but he squeaked eagerly at Felix.

"Whoa, slow down little guy… man I'm just glad you're alright – Kim said she couldn't find you and I was wondering if you were hiding out in Ron's pocket or something when he…" Felix's face clouded up. How do you explain to a naked mole rat that his best friend and owner is dead? Should he even bother?

Felix placed Rufus in his shirt pocket and said, "Well anyway, glad to see you Rufus. I told Mo I'd go straight home, but I don't think she'd mind if I took a mutual friend out to get some nachos."

Rufus was chattering excitedly now and Felix was trying to understand what he was saying but it was slow going. There were a few things he understood, but a lot of things he couldn't quite get. Eventually however he had managed to piece together a bit of what Rufus wanted.

"So… You want me to take you to my work?" Felix asked.

Rufus nodded furiously, but then held up his paw.

"But first Bueno Nacho?"

Rufus did his best Ron imitation and grinned broadly.

After Felix had situated his chair behind the wheel of his van and started to turn onto the road, Rufus let out a little chatter of contentment and allowed himself a few minutes of rest nestled in his pocket. It had been a long and difficult journey for the naked mole rat, but it seemed like things were looking up. Yes indeed, things were looking a lot better than they had in days.

Of course, they'd look even better over a double order of nachos with extra cheese.

-

Shego's eyes spun trying to recollect all of the rules and manners that Iris had tried to drill into her head over the last couple of weeks. She never thought that going to a _dance_ would entail anything more than some dancing lessons, a pretty dress and a boyfriend – she was wrong.

The dance floor it seemed was a microcosm of 19th century gender politics. There were a lot of things as a young lady she couldn't do alone, like arrive or leave the hall – she had to be in the presence of other women (she idly wondered if this is why girls tended to all go to the bathroom together in more modern times) and if she wanted to cross the floor, she had to find a gentleman to take her arm and escort her. It seemed rather archaic to her, but of course it _was_, however she was relieved to find out that women did have a few areas of the dance under their control, for instance she had the right to refuse to dance with anyone with the caveat that she had to offer an excuse.

"So any excuse will work?" she had asked Iris.

"Well, I suppose so – but I'd refrain from being rude or ill tempered." Iris had already noticed that Shego, or Bella as she called her, was fairly prone to speaking her mind.

"So nothing like, 'Your face reminds me of a baboon's ass'" Shego had said this saucily, trying to do her best impression of how she thought an aristocratic lady of this time would speak, but it came out more like a mangled version of a Southern Belle.

Iris's eyes went wide and she stammered, "No, no, no! No comments on a gentleman's appearance please!"

"Well then, what _should_ I say?" Shego was more or less playing with Iris. She liked the older woman immensely but she was just too easy a target for her sarcastic sense of humor.

"Say that you are dizzy, or that you are winded, or that you need a rest." Iris had stated.

Shego thought for a moment about various period films she had seen on television and how the actresses portrayal of the women often had them fanning themselves or feigning exhaustion. A couple of things clicked in her head. "_Ah, the social version of 'I've got a headache dear' – got it._"

All that, however, was in the past and now the night of the event had finally arrived. Shego's stomach felt like it was full of nervous butterflies, but then she smiled as she felt the reassuring grip of Tim on her arm.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked her.

She put her hand over his and said to him, "I've been ready since _high school_ for something like this".

North gave her a raised eyebrow and a smile in answer to her statement.

"_Oh right, he wouldn't know what high school is…_"

"I mean…" Shego began to speak.

"It's ok, I think I understand you. Time for our entrance!" he bowed with a large flourish.

Together, arm in arm, they strode towards the big double doors that led to the ballroom. Under normal circumstances an unmarried woman wouldn't be allowed to arrive unless she was in the company of other ladies, preferably her mother or an older relative, but since publicly she and North were 'cousins' he was allowed to escort her to door.

Upon entering they found the party in full swing already. They had arrived late, even though the party was technically in her honor – it was considered quite fashionable at this time and Shego mused it was an artifact that had been passed forward to her own modern era. A man at the door, most likely a servant, announced their arrival and several people turned to face their direction. It took Shego a second to remember what to do, but then she turned along with North to face the hosts of the party and bowed to them. It was one of the many 'rules'; you always greeted the hosts of a party first.

Almost before they could move they were descended upon by various well wishers and people who feigned interest in meeting her, but Shego knew the truth – North was exceptionally wealthy, famous and influential, so they were really introducing themselves to him. Still Tim took time with every introduction to introduce his "lovely cousin from the Americas". Shego did her best to make 'small talk' with the women that surrounded her, answering questions about America that she faked through her rudimentary knowledge of high school history as well as answering questions about her dress – It was a Parisian style, and yes it was shipped directly from Paris.

Eventually the crowd of people around them thinned and they were able to make their way to the dance floor. Shego was a little nervous, although she had practiced often with Tim since she had made her feelings clear to him, her drawing room was not quite the same environment as the large room filled with a hundred spectators. Still things went fairly well and after a couple of reels they retired to the sidelines for some refreshments and conversation.

"Enjoying yourself?" inquired Tim.

Shego really wanted to peck him on the cheek and thank him for the night, but she refrained herself from the public display of affection. Instead she squeezed his hand, which was probably scandalous enough.

"I'm having a ball!" she exclaimed and then blushed as she realized where her modern colloquialism probably originated from.

Tim smiled at her and then leaned into to whisper to her in a very serious tone, "You should prepare yourself."

Shego was a little confused, "What do you mean?" she replied in her own whisper.

North motioned with his cup to a large cluster of young men across the room.

Slowly it sunk into her brain, "Oh." She responded.

Tim continued, "The beautiful, unmarried cousin of one of the richest men in the Empire… they'll probably be climbing over each other to introduce themselves to you."

He chortled a little bit at his own imagery.

Shego blushed a little bit, quite unused to having so much attention focused on her, or at least _that kind_ of attention – and besides, Tim had called her beautiful!

"The only one I want to dance with tonight is you…" she said with a demure look. She was deeply enthralled with Tim, but still a little unused to expressing her emotions. It made her look rather cute.

"I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun, this party after all is in your honor." He nudged her softly with his shoulder.

"And besides, I do have to take care of a little business for the hospital."

Shego was a little disappointed, so she let it show on her face. The "Shego Pout" wasn't quite as effective as the "puppy dog pout", but it did seem to have some effect on Tim.

"I promise I'll be back soon, I have to be or I'll start to get jealous!" he said with a grin.

This seemed to placate Shego, she hadn't really ever had a man get jealous over her in her entire life and it was an amusing concept.

At this point a young man had approached them from behind, he paused for a moment and then cleared his throat.

"That's my cue… I'll leave you two alone." Tim had said this impishly to her and it made her chuckle a little bit. Bidding him farewell she turned to greet this new man who actually turned out to be rather polite and not too bad looking. After a dance, Shego had to admit that it didn't exactly feel _bad_ to have so much male attention focused on her, even if it wasn't from the one man that she wanted.

She exchanged partners a couple more times until she was starting to feel a little flushed from the activities and she excused herself politely to the side of the room. As she sipped her drink she scanned the sitting area, but was unable to find Tim.

"_Hmm, he left me here all alone… I'll get him back for that later._"

She was a little annoyed, sure she was having fun, but the main attraction of this night, at least in her mind, was to spend the evening with her… she paused for a moment.

"_What do I call him? Boyfriend? Lover? Ah… so confusing._"

In any regards, she wasn't all too thrilled that he had seemingly abandoned her on the dance floor. Even if she did have men literally lining up to dance with her, there was still a very insecure part of her that was perhaps a little overly sensitive about these things. She didn't like to admit it, but she was often very afraid that Tim would get bored with her and lose interest, especially since…

They had been close for the last few weeks and it had been wonderful and more than a little passionate, but still they hadn't managed to "seal the deal". Shego wasn't really an expert in dealing with men, or relationships, so she thought rather naively that once you had a man that was _that_ interested in you, taking it a little further was the next, and expected step. It wasn't that she didn't want to, Tim could make her melt like butter and send her pulse skyrocketing, but she was still coming to grips with a lot of things. She was grateful that Tim wasn't pushing her, but still she wondered if it was because he really wasn't that attracted to her.

"Excuse me Miss," came a female voice from behind her. Shego pushed her thought about her relationship with Tim aside and then turned to greet this new woman.

"Bella North, how do you do?" she responded with a greeting that she thought would be appropriate for the social occasion.

The woman was about her age, if not a little longer and she was rather well built to boot. Her face was attractive, but there was something in her eyes that bothered Shego – she couldn't place it.

"Yes Miss North, I have a message for you. Your cousin desires your presence and has requested that I bring you to join him."

"_Yeah! He didn't forget about me!_"

She was so happy that Tim had remembered her that she didn't even bother to question why, or where she was going and instead consented to follow the woman. They traveled together out of the ballroom and towards a long dark hall that lead towards the back of the estate, finally arriving at a staircase.

"It's up this way Miss." Stated the woman as she beckoned Shego to follow her.

The staircase was dark, even with the light from the lamp the woman had retrieved before their ascent, so it was difficult for Shego to maneuver and she found herself groping for the wall as they twisted upwards. Eventually they arrived at the top and there was another hall filled with doors. Following the woman they eventually arrived at what she thought must have been their destination.

"In here Miss." The woman stated.

Shego opened the door and then entered the room. It was dark, barely illuminated, but she could make out a figure reclining in a chair by a blazing hearth as well as a large bed against the wall. She closed the door behind her.

"Tim?" she called out.

It looked like Tim had managed to smuggle her away from the party for a little hanky panky, not that she was totally opposed to the idea… in fact it made her pulse rise a little bit.

"_Hmm… maybe a little fun, then a little dancing… and then a little more fun when we get home. Sounds perfect to me_."

She quietly crossed the room and called once again, "Tim? I don't know why you called me here but I have a great idea…"

The figure in the chair finally responded to her, in a voice that wasn't at all Timothy North.

"Hello… Shego."

-

Ron watched Shego enjoying herself on the dance floor. He knew that despite her protests she would have a good time and he was quickly being proven correct. For a moment he felt a twinge of jealousy when she smiled at her dancing partner, but he pushed it out of his mind.

"_Keep your head in the game Stoppable_."

The weeks that had followed since their make-out session on the couch had caused Ron more than a little bit of concern. At first he had been only intent on treating Shego as nothing more than a tool, a pawn… "No," he corrected himself, "A queen", to use in his chess game against Fiske. He had never expected himself to start to develop real, genuine, feelings for her. The woman that he had come to know was nothing like the woman that he had thought her to be and it troubled his heart. If she offered herself to him again, would he have the strength to resist her? He knew the full extent of the pain and torment that led down that path and he wasn't sure that he could take it again.

He reluctantly pulled his gaze from Shego and turned back to his task at hand. He was supposed to be here to drum up support for his hospital. It was a cause that was close to his heart and one that he hoped would live on and do a great deal of good in the world if he ever managed to solve the Time-loop problem. He didn't want to waste this opportunity to pressure the elite of London society to start backing his humanitarian initiatives.

He cornered a few men, Bankers, Shipping Magnates and various other influential persons and made his case to them. He was greeted with a tepid response but was able to make a few of them promise some support on the spot by hinting that he was looking for partners in a new business endeavor. He left the business unsaid, but every man in the room knew that if Timothy North was on the prowl for a new investment they could do a lot worse than following him along – everything he touched turned to gold. The business of course, was a real one and one that would come to dominate the next century – the advent of the railroad had already begun and Tim knew he was going to hitch his fortune to it before most people were even aware of the possibilities.

It was when he was making his latest pitch to another tycoon that he spotted someone extremely out of place. The crooked nose, the slight scar below his left eye, it was someone that he knew intimately.

"_Cager._"

This was something new to him, in fact the entire night was new to him – he had never before had Shego at his side in any of his lives and this ball was an event that hadn't existed in the previous time stream. His mind tried to grip onto the possibilities of Fiske's right hand man and spymaster being present at the ball, but he was coming up with nothing. He noticed Cager slip through a door in the far part of the room and he resolved to find out what the sneak was up to.

He excused himself from the people he was talking to and made his own way out of the hall. He didn't want to leave Shego alone, but he reasoned that she would be safe so long as she stayed on the floor. And besides, the opportunity to get a leg up on Fiske was too great. He was entering uncharted territory here and for all he knew Shego's presence in his life had already altered the future and the outcome of his struggle. He had to know for sure.

Once he closed the door behind him and entered the dark hall, Ron instantly slipped into _Shinobi-iri_ mode, the stealth aspect of the secret art of Ninjitsu. Even though Ron regretted that his frequent trips to Japan had caused a rift between him and Kim, he was also very happy to have had the opportunity to study under Master Sensei. The fact that Ninjitsu was more than just _Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, _the martial arts aspect of Ninjitsu, was often lost on most modern practitioners of the ancient art. When Ron traveled to Yamanouchi, he was instructed not only in martial arts but in _Ninja Juhakkei_ – all eighteen of the secret ninja skills.

The art that Ron was using now, _Shinobi-iri_, was one of the most ancient and most useful of all. It had originated actually in China; some suspected under inspiration from the philosopher _Sun-Tzu_, and its purpose was stealth and espionage. There were five methodologies under _Shinobi-iri_ and the one that Ron was using at the moment was _Joei-on jutsu_, or Erasing the Light and Sound. As he crept skillfully down the hallway in the direction that he had spotted Cager moving, Ron reflected that it was no accident that the Japanese word for a full Ninja was _Shinobi_ – stealth was the ultimate technique.

Carefully he came upon the turn in the hall where he predicted Cager would be traveling too, with a quick gesture he snuffed a hanging lamp and proceeded to make himself very small in the darkening shadow. He was rewarded moments later with the sound of footfalls approaching in the distance – more than one he noted.

"So, we're not doing anything?" asked one man in a hushed tone.

"That's right, we're just hanging around for now. His Lordship wants to handle this personally, I suggest staying out of his way," the second man was instantly recognizable to Ron as Cager.

"It seems stupid to me, why don't we wait until the wog has to hit the jakes and then we can end it there. Nice and easy, you see my point?" the first man was obviously discussing the assassination of someone, probably a party guest.

"Listen, you don't get paid to think Finch, you do what his Lordship wants and that's all – if you value your life anyway." Cager was snarling at the man, he was probably fed up with having to deal with him.

Ron tried to still his breathing, the two men were almost upon him and he had to make a decision about what to do. It seemed that Fiske was here, that was the only person he could think of that Cager would call "his Lordship". If that was the case, then this could be the perfect opportunity for Ron to pay a visit to his nemesis and see if he could end the game ahead of time. However, the two men had been talking about what seemed to be an assassination on Fiske's part and it bothered him that he couldn't think of who their target would be. He started to mentally go over a list of names of the people who were attending tonight's event, trying to see if he could put together some picture of what Fiske was trying to accomplish.

Slowly a feeling of dread began to creep over Ron. He had assumed that tonight would be the first time anyone in London would become aware of Shego's description, and in fact he had welcomed it as such. He had intended to use the publicity from the event to lure Fiske into some sort of action that he could have countered, but it never occurred to him that maybe Fiske _already_ knew that Bella North was Shego. If this was the case then it left open a myriad number of possibilities about what might be happening now. Fiske could be setting his sights on him, although it was unlikely – his cover as Timothy North was impeccable, or he could be…

"_Shego, he's going after Shego – and the way Cager and that fool were talking it seems like he wanted to do it personally._"

He reasoned that Fiske could be attempting to get her to join him – a possibility that until recently he had felt was highly probable. Still, he wondered if it wasn't… despite how Shego had acted towards him, she did have a long past as a villain and how far would her heart go against providing Ron cover from any sort of promises that Monkey Fist would make to her. Would she choose her affections for Timothy North over perhaps… the promise of being able to go home? Ron wasn't sure and things were happening that he had not planned for. He was supposed to be with Shego when they confronted Fiske, he was supposed to be the one urging her on and whispering promises in her ear, not Fiske. Ruefully he wondered if perhaps he had outsmarted himself.

All this thinking happened over a course of mere moments. The two men that Ron had been listening in on had already passed by his position without discovering him. He had decided to let them go rather than reveal his presence before he had the opportunity to locate Shego. He moved around the corner, thinking to trace back the path that Cager had taken from the ballroom when he heard something that changed his plans.

Somewhere above him, he would have sworn he heard a cry and the sound of wood being splintered.

If Shego was in the ballroom, she was probably safe. However if she had been led to another location within the mansion… He looked above him and made up his mind. He'd follow his gut this time and see where it would lead him.

-

"Fiske!" gasped Shego. This was something that she had not been prepared for, especially on a night like tonight. Instantly her hands went up into an attack posture and she cursed a little bit when she remembered that the green fire no longer came to her call.

"Now, now Shego. Is that how you greet an old associate?" The monkey master had stood up from his chair and his body was backlit by the fire raging behind him.

"We were never associates Fiske." Shego stated defiantly. Already she was debating her chances of beating Fiske without her cosmic powers and wonder if she shouldn't perhaps make a run for the door.

"Well, then how about this – _Competitors._" Fiske snarled at her and Shego looked blankly at him.

"Oh I see, no response to that? What kind of fool do you take me for Shego, I've found out your plan!" Fiske had kicked the chair he had been sitting on out of his way.

"What plan you monkey moron?" Shego had decided that an insult might distract Fiske enough so that he wouldn't notice her positioning herself in a way to get to the door.

"Don't play coy with me Shego. You know, I've always wondered how Timothy North seemed to be just one step ahead of me, it was almost like – he knew the future. It was ironic to me that a man who was actually _from_ the future would be constantly struggling against someone like him and it used to infuriate me to no end. But then you know what I discovered? It seemed an old acquaintance of mine, perhaps one that had been a better student of history than I had been, was living with my rival under the pretense of being his cousin. Imagine my surprise Shego. Imagine how _angry_ I was."

Fisk had closed the distance between him and Shego at an alarming rate and Shego could see the glare from his simian like teeth as he snarled the word "angry" at her. This wasn't looking good. It seemed that Fiske believed that she was helping North foil him and was intending to take her out of the equation.

"_And then after me…Tim!_"

The thought of Fiske going after Timothy made Shego panic. Tim was smart, frighteningly smart she admitted, but still he was just a relatively normal man. There would be no way that he could possibly be prepared for whatever diabolical trap that Monkey Fist would spring on him. She made a decision right there to do something that she had thought she would never do again.

She was going to protect someone else.

Under normal circumstances and at the height of her ability, Shego would have considered herself to be Fiske's equal, if not better in hand to hand combat. However that would have been including the addition of her cosmic powers, which it seemed, had deserted her. To further complicate matters, she had been woefully out of shape until recently and to be honest she hadn't yet completely recovered and her frame was carrying around a few extra pound – all in the right places of course, but still not optimal for fighting. So she was fairly surprised when Fiske's attack came in and she was able to get out of the way in time.

"_Hmm, Monty's slowed down a little bit. Maybe this will be easier than I thought_."

Ducking under his follow up blow, Shego drove her knee into Monkey Fist's abdomen and then twisted away to put some room in between them. Both of them were at a disadvantage in this environment since it was so small and cramped, their respective fighting styles incorporated a lot of acrobatics and there was little room to move. Without hesitating, Shego launched herself forward in a double-footed kick at Fiske. It wasn't intended to actually hit the Monkey Master, but instead to allow her egress from the room. When Fiske moved to the side to avoid the attack, Shego instead went flying past him and _through_ the door that he had been blocking.

She took a long moment to gather her wits after rolling to a stop on the other side of the doorway. Shego brushed some splinters off her shoulders and shook out her hair but then she noticed that Fiske had recovered and was already almost above her when she swung her leg out, sweeping him off his feet.

"_Damn thing's in the way!_"

While Monkey Fist was struggling to regain his balance, Shego reached down to the bottom of her ball gown and ripped the medium train that had adorned it right off. She had little choice in the matter; it was seriously hampering her ability to fight.

"Ok, now you're in trouble monkey face, I _really_ liked this dress."

Shego and Monkey Fist rose at nearly the same time, both of them warily facing each other in the long hallway. Fiske was the first one to move, with an overhand strike that was more show than real attack, but Shego knew better than to fall into his trap – Fiske, like Stoppable, was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar and false movements and attacks were the bread and butter of that style. She dodged to the side, letting Fiske fall past her and then waited for the real attack to come. His foot swung out at her head as he spun around and Shego was able to easily counter it with her own raised arm. There was a huge amount of force behind the assault and it actually managed to drive her back several feet.

"_Shit – he may be slower than normal, but he's a hell of a lot stronger_."

Her arms stung from the act of absorbing Fiske's strike, the force of his blow was much more powerful than she had remembered. She was a little out of shape, but it seemed that Fiske had been doing nothing but training since they last fought. She quickly digested this new information and re-calculated her chances of beating him. It was possible, but it was going to be a lot harder than she would have liked, and she definitely couldn't allow Fiske to wear her down – once fatigue made her movements start to slow, she was sure it would be all over for her.

She knew she couldn't give Fiske the chance to press the advantage, so instead of waiting to counter his next move she launched an all out attack of her own. Her fists were a blur as she aimed repeatedly for his vital spots, only to come up with nothing. Fiske was slow, but he was hard to get a bead on, the footwork of the drunken monkey style of kung-fu he was using was difficult to follow. Shego was getting incredibly frustrated and upset as her efforts repeatedly met with failure so she wasn't paying as much attention to her defenses as she should have been. Monkey Fist fell into one of her attacks, taking it on the shoulder and then belted Shego with a strike of his own that sent her flying across the room.

"_Ugh… damn it, I should have seen that coming. Stoppable used that same technique on him._"

Shego got up and wiped her mouth, blood came away to her hand and she realized that she must have a split lip. She snarled and a look of determination mixed with anger came to her face, it was the same look that she gave "the Princess" whenever the little redhead had finally pissed her off too much. She threw all thoughts of strategy out of her head and ran at Fiske with a bestial fury, the soft footfalls from her shoes echoing in the long hall.

There was a moment that followed where it looked like Shego would regret her impulsive actions. Fiske had moved rather deftly out of the way of her attack and was preparing to launch his own counter, but he moved too slow and Shego saw an opportunity. She spun around and launched a kick out that cracked like a whip into the side of Fiske's head, sending him tumbling down the hall. She didn't even pause to take a breath as she pressed her attack; she was determined to end Monkey Fist's threat here and now.

As she ran forward to pounce, there was a cry from behind her that brought her up short.

"Bella!" came the voice.

It was Tim and Shego was momentarily distracted from her thoughts of vengeance upon Fiske to turn around to face him. He was standing at the end of the hall; no more than 30 feet away and he had a look of concern on his face. Shego thought to her self that he must be worried about her, maybe he had even seen some of the fight. She forgot about the enemy that was slumped against the wall and began to make her way to Tim, to tell him that everything would be all right. She knew it was a mistake as soon as she heard the shot.

Lord Montgomery Fiske didn't get to be in the position he was by being a fool, or not having a second plan. He anticipated that this battle with Shego might not go the way that he wanted, so he had brought a long a little surprise. Hidden within the inner pocket of his jacket was an unusual device, at least for this time and place. Fiske had spent months laboring, trying to remember everything he could about how to construct it. He had never favored firearms before, but he knew that if he were to succeed he would have to throw off some of his old prejudices and embrace new tactics that would be more successful.

Shego had foolishly turned her back on him, so he reached into the inner pocket of his coat and brought forth a small pistol. It was of a design and ammunition that wouldn't appear for at least another two decades, but he had constructed it with a little help much earlier. It held four shots of small caliber percussion fired bullets and was wildly inaccurate at long distances, but in a tight spot it was incredibly lethal. He was about to take Shego out from behind, in fact his arm was already raised to fire at her, when he paused for a moment because he heard her say, "Tim! Stay back!"

"_That man… it's North?_"

Something was bugging Fiske about the appearance of the man at the end of the hall. Almost like there was a whisper in the back of his mind. He calmed himself a little bit and then as he had been taught he reached out with his _chi_ towards the person he assumed was Timothy North. What he found surprised him to no end.

"_It's… Stoppable! He's working with Shego! No, this will ruin everything!_"

Monkey Fist knew intrinsically that Ron Stoppable might be the only man who could stop the plans he had in store for the Tempus Simia and it sent a wave of panic through his body. Quickly he readjusted his aim at his most hated enemy. The hall was dark and his arm was a little unsteady, but he pulled the trigger and fired – three times to be exact, saving the last bullet for Shego. He smiled to himself when he saw the man seem to fall back and slump over and then he went to finish off the green skinned villainess that had been such a thorn in his side.

He never got the chance because a rather cute size nine ballroom slipper was quickly planted in between his eyes. The blow was so strong that he felt his consciousness swim like it was toying with the idea of folding into blackness, but he held on as best he could. He was so close… if only he could bring his weapon to bear…

Shego heard the shots. They stunned her to inaction, she had not been expecting a firearm from Fiske - it was not his style. She noticed that she felt fine, definitely not like she had taken a bullet and then she saw the form of Tim fall over onto the ground.

"NO!" she screamed.

She was torn for a moment between rushing to Tim's side and dealing with Fiske, but then she decided that if by some miracle Tim had lived, that Fiske would again come after them. She had to take him out now.

Once her mind was made up, she lost no time springing into action. She was already close to Fiske so all it took on her part was a quick pivot on her legs and then a crushing kick right to the mutated man's face. He looked like he was out cold, but she wanted to hit him again. She wanted to literally kick his face so many times until it resembled nothing more than a pile of mush, but then she heard it, faint and weak, her own name.

"B-bella…" Tim was leaning up against the floor, clutching his shoulder. Shego ignored the prone body of Monkey Fist and ran to him. He looked a little shaky and Shego reasoned it was probably shock. Unless he was wounded in some other place that she couldn't see, then the bullet had only pierced his shoulder. She quickly tore off the top part of his shirt and inspected the wound.

"It's ok Tim, you'll be ok," she hoped this with all her heart.

Finally she could see the wound, it was a small thing and amazingly enough the bullet had not gone all the way through. Shego had seen more than her fair share of gunshot wounds in her life and she reflected that all things considered Timothy had gotten off pretty easy. Still there were blood loss and shock to deal with and either one of those could kill a person if they didn't get treatment. She took the remains of his shirt and tied it into a makeshift bandage.

"Press on this Tim, just hold it in place" she tried to sound soothing, but there was a note of panic in her voice.

"Thanks Bella, I'll be ok… I'm just a little stunned." Ron meant this in more ways than one. Despite his constant travels through the events of this century, this was one that he had never experienced before. Sure he had been shot at, and even shot before by Fiske – but the two had never crossed paths so early. He was at a loss of what to do.

Shego was relieved that his voice sounded stronger than it had just a few moments ago, so she turned her attention back to Fiske, fully intent on getting some vengeance for his attempt to kill the man she loved. There was only one problem.

Fiske wasn't there.

-

A/N: Ok, this is officially the longest chapter that I've ever written, but there was good reason for it – I had a lot of ground to cover. First we have Rufus and Felix in the future, possibly coming to the aid of our hero and then we have Ron and Shego struggling with their feelings for each other in the past – Shego seems smitten and even Ron is struggling against his better judgment when confronted with this seemingly new Shego. But unfortunately for them, Monkey Fist has finally caught on to the secret of who exactly "Timothy North" is and you can be assured that it won't remain a secret for long. It makes you wonder how Shego is going to deal with the entire situation, doesn't it?

Events in the past are quickly coming to a head and sooner or later we will be out of that phase of the story, but I can assure you it won't end there. I have plans to continue the story line in this fiction through the events of the past and into the future, or more modern times. You'll just have to wait and see how events unfold.

My thanks for the reviews for the last chapter and I'm sorry if I sounded a little whiny about the lack luster response to chapter 7. That wasn't how I intended it, I was just wondering if perhaps my story is too difficult for people to read or to follow along with. I'm constantly worrying about making my plot too complicated, or not explaining things sufficiently enough for people to understand what's going on. I don't do many "ah ha" expository moments in my fiction, usually I leave it up to the readers to piece together what's going on, but maybe I should endeavor for more outright explanation?

Another thing I am curious about is it seems that almost everyone who reads this story is a man and I'm curious why that is? In fact I'd even like to get some feedback from any females that have been reading the story. The reason is simple – I'd like to hear their thoughts on how I am carrying along the writing process in regards to Shego and her side of the romance/interactions with Ron. I don't believe that my 'Y' chromosome completely eliminates me from the field of writing romantic fiction, but I _am_ kind of curious about how I'm doing. This is, after all, my first attempt at writing a serious romance.

Anyway, once again thank you for reading and thank you for the reviews and personal messages. They help me immensely and are one of the reasons why this fiction gets updated so frequently! Keep them coming and I'll try to keep the chapters coming until we reach the end.

Thanks,

QC


	10. Chapter 10

WARNING: This chapter is a lime scene, so if you don't want to read it then skip down to the next chapter. Also, I felt inclined to raise the rating on this fiction from 'T' to 'M' because of it. I debated long and hard (no pun!) on if I really wanted to include this or not, but I felt that the descriptions of the characters motives in the scene were too noteworthy for the entire plot not to address seriously. Call it "artistic license" if you want to, but I didn't want to cheat on my story.

Also, as a twist, a great deal of the action happens from Shego's POV in this chapter. The reason why is explained at the end (I don't want to ruin it for people now)

-

Chapter 10 – Shego's Passionate Heart

Despite the heat of the bath, Ron was breaking out in a cold sweat. The pain in his shoulder was still strong, but he refused to take any morphine to dull it – he wanted to keep his mind clear and he was aware of the addictive qualities of the drug. Neither of these things however happened to be the primary source of his discomfort.

"Stop squirming!" came a delightfully pout-laden voice behind him.

That was she – the entrancing creature that was causing him a great deal of irritation at the moment. Oh, it wasn't the fact that she was being a little bit too doting on him; he kind of liked that attention. Nor was it the fact that she followed him around constantly these days, he actually liked that too. It wasn't even the fact that she was in his bath at the moment, gingerly soaping his back, he was a big boy and could deal with that.

It was the fact that the hot water from the tub had completely soaked her white linen chemise and he could see _everything_.

It wasn't the first time that he had been privy to such an intimate view of Shego's body, but the contrast between then and now was stark. When he had first brought her here from the hospital she had been little more than skin and bones and his viewing of her had been more clinical, like a doctors practiced eye when observing a patient. Now however, months of fattening up had put all the weight that she had lost back on, and then some. Ron ruefully thought that perhaps a bit too much weight, and in all the right places. He caught a glimpse of Shego out of the corner of her eye - she was trying to wring out the cloth she had been using on his back and he was entranced by the effect the motions of her arms were having on her chest.

"_Was that a jiggle? Is she doing that on purpose? Is she trying to kill me?_"

Ron started to mentally walk through his multiplication tables in an effort to keep the obvious effects of Shego's attentions at bay. Just as he was starting to make progress he felt two arms drape around his chest and start to rub a soapy cloth over him. It was enough to light his skin on fire under normal circumstances, but what really sent him over the edge was the soft firmness of twin globes pressing against his back.

"B-b-b-b-b-ella!" Ron shouted, as he stood upright in the tub.

"What's wrong?" Shego said with a tinge of concern in her voice.

Ron paused for a moment, wondering what to say. Eventually he decided to go with his inner Ron-ness and just blurt out the truth.

"Maybe you should wear a … towel or something." He stammered out.

Shego pouted for a second and then plaintively said, "What, you don't like what you see?"

"No! I mean… well, definitely no… or yes I do! Does that make sense? You're very beautiful and…" Ron let his voice trail off, there didn't seem to be a good way for him to get out of this situation without further embarrassing himself.

"Well, the view from down here is pretty good too Tim." Shego practically licked her lips at sight before her.

Ron blushed about three different shades of red and then stepped out of the tub, reaching for a towel. Shego had been getting under his skin, in a way that no woman ever had before. He bitterly thought that with her recent "sex-offensive" and Monkey Fist's early appearance that pretty much all of his plans had gone out the window. It was frankly, just a little bit too much for him to handle.

"You know, I think I'm getting a little cold. I'll get dressed and warm up by the fire." He tried to offer some excuse to explain his sudden departure.

"Oh, from what I saw you didn't look like you were _that_ cold." Shego replied to him tartly.

"_Oh God, she saw it…_"

Ron was besides himself as he opened the door and stepped out into his room. His rooms, being the master suite, were very similar to the small apartments that Shego had been living in, which meant it came equipped with it's own bath as well as a study and a bedroom. The bath led right to the later and he wondered if he had really escaped the dangerous situation with the raven-haired temptress.

He threw himself backwards on his bed and closed his eyes. Things were definitely _not_ going according to his plans. Ever since the night of the ball, when Fiske had wounded him, Shego had latched onto him like he was her own personal cuddlebuddy. It wasn't that he didn't particularly _like_ it – actually it felt pretty good to have a woman, especially a beautiful one like Shego, practically doting on him. However the problem that Ron was having was that she _was_ Shego, and hence, his enemy.

"_Or is she? She certainly doesn't seem to be acting like it these days… but then again she thinks I'm someone else. Do I like her? Definitely. Do I want to bed her? Absolutely. Should I?_"

Ron left that last question unanswered. Despite how he knew these things often worked out and the pain that was associated with them, he also knew that he had a serious ethical problem to deal with. He had been playing at Timothy North for so long that he had forgotten that deep down inside Ron Stoppable wasn't quite the same person. In fact, Ron was in many ways the complete opposite of Tim. Where Tim could lie and cheat and manipulate people to do his bidding, Ron felt completely unable to do any of those things.

It was a strange duality of personality that Ron hadn't been able to completely resolve. When he was playing at being North, it was almost like he was watching his body do things from the outside. It didn't go very far to assuage his guilt about the things that he did, but he reasoned in his mind that he was like an actor playing a part in a period drama. After all, when he did something like say, kill someone; didn't they always come back healthy and whole on the next iteration through the Time-Loop?

"_What to do about Shego? I can't tell her the truth, but she's bound to find out sooner or later. I want to tell her… I want to be able to tell her everything, about me, about this situation. But what will she do when she finds out I lied to her? Would she believe me if I said that it was in the past and that I loved her now…_"

Ron couldn't believe himself. _"Love… Shego?_" Those words echoed in his mind. He knew that he had feelings for her, strong feelings even, but did he truly love her or was he just… lonely. He thought for a moment and then tried to describe the woman.

"_Beautiful, without a doubt. Smart, clever and cunning, but also warm, kind and sensitive. Her heart is fragile and I could break it in an instant. Could I do that to her? She's also… loyal. Incredibly loyal._"

The idea of loyalty held a special meaning for Ron and he sighed for a moment. Shego had fallen into his trap so completely that he bitterly hated himself for having tricked her in the first place. She had proven her loyalty in the hallway when she had battled Monkey Fist on his behest, but he knew it wasn't exactly loyalty to him. It was loyalty to Tim North and his web of manipulation, betrayals and deceit. Ron knew that if he were ever going to have a relationship with Shego, it would take him a long time to dig himself out of the hole he had made.

"_How could I screw this up so much?_"

That thought was abruptly interrupted by a small drop of water hitting his face and he opened his eyes suddenly. Before him, leaning over his prone position, was Shego and she was in her full glory.

"W-what?" he managed to get out before Shego fell on top of him.

She rubbed her nude body against his chest and then whispered in his ear, "Sorry… my clothes were wet."

What happened next was pure instinct on the part of Ron. All thoughts of complications and problems were instantly shoved to the side as he felt Shego's damp breasts press against his chest and he moved to put his good arm around her. Quickly they were locked in an embrace and a kiss that warmed them both more than any fire. This continued for long minutes until Shego slowly broke the kiss and then moved to the head of the bed.

She peeled away the top layer of blankets and slid seductively between the sheets and then she lay on her side and patted the empty spot next to her.

"It's cold out there Tim, lets warm up a little bit… in here," her already throaty voice was low and seductive and Ron felt himself pulled to her by the pure force of her eroticism.

Once under the covers it didn't take long for them to resume where they had left off and Ron found himself being lost in Shego's passion. He had only known her before as a fighter, but even then he could tell that she was fiery, and not just her hands. Now he realized that her attitude also extended to the bedroom. He wasn't sure if he should be thrilled or scared.

He barely noticed it when his towel had found it's way to Shego's hands and then to the floor, he was too preoccupied with the sensation of her lips across his chest – it was one of his weak points. With a deft movement and with much concern for his injured shoulder, Shego moved from her position at his side to one that was half on top of him. It was a better angle for them to continue their kissing without having to crane their heads and it brought along with it the pleasant sensation of chests touching as well as… other parts. Dimly in the back of his mind Ron realized that he should have stopped things there, but he was already so far gone that he was almost a slave to the passion of the beautiful woman in his bed and he realized then and there that his plan had completely blew up in his face.

He loved her, without a doubt, and all he was doing at this point was fighting a doomed retreating action. He admitted to himself how bad this would hurt later, but plunged ahead anyway. If he could give her just a fraction of the comfort that she had given him so far, then it was worth the pain. She deserved as much.

Shego smiled both inwardly and outwardly at the way things were going, for once her heart and body were in perfect unison. She knew, without a doubt, that she loved Timothy North. The fear and anger that had gripped her heart when he had been shot was proof enough and she admitted to herself that no matter what happened, she could not bear to be without him. She was still struggling with her own fear of physical intimacy, but her love for Tim was quickly overcoming the remaining obstacles to their union, and if things went well tonight then even that would become a thing of past.

She wasn't sure exactly when she had decided it, but sometime within the last two weeks since Tim had been injured she had started to feel very keenly that she was missing out on something. Her heart raced when she was with this man, her legs felt weak and all it took from him was a kiss or a caress for her to be painfully aware that she was a woman – the anticipation and the pleasure were so intense that they actually hurt. It was a first for her. She had resolved that tonight she was going to do something that she had never done before - she was going to make love to a man that _she_ loved.

Oh she was no virgin, but she also had never really been in love. The men she had been with had either used her, or she had used them and at the time she felt that she was ok with that. Now, looking back on her old self, she felt nothing but pity for the woman who was so bitter that she wouldn't even deign to give herself a chance to actually find love. Real love. Love like she felt for this man. It was so strong and so powerful that she was giddy with it's feeling like it was intoxicating liquor. Just saying his name to herself sent her into fits of butterflies and when she was alone in her room, she would hold her pillow and wish that it were him. This feeling was so new to her and so wild that she couldn't understand it, but then she had thought to herself, "_Why even bother!_"

She knew that he hadn't come back to her with the three words that she wanted him to say, but in her mind she considered it a technicality. Tim's actions, his demeanor and his touch said volumes about how he was feeling and that was enough proof for her. So it was with deliberate action that she trailed her arm down his firm abdomen, coming to rest on the proof that he wanted her.

"B-Bella…" he moaned in response to her gentle touch.

Shego didn't give him time to utter another word, she wanted this, wanted this more than she had wanted anything in the world and she was fiercely determined to not be rejected. She silenced him with a kiss that started off languidly and then built to a fevered pitch of probing tongues and biting lips. It was a distraction for what she planned to do next.

Gently she shifted her weight, taking care not touch his injured shoulder, and she repositioned herself to straddle him. They reluctantly broke their kiss as Shego used her arms to push herself into a sitting position on top of him.

Tim seemed to come to his senses momentarily and asked her, "Bella, are you sure about this?"

She thought it was sweet of him to be concerned about her in this way, no man ever had before. Some of them had literally just forced themselves on her while she was drunk… or worse. She still remembered her experiences in _Bedlam_ and she fought a little bit to drive away the memories.

"_Not tonight. Tonight I am going to do what I want to do, everyone else in the world be damned._"

It was a very Shego-like thought, part of her old persona reasserting itself. She didn't really mind, so long as it helped her get the things that she _really_ wanted she'd welcome the bravado and arrogance.

Shego began to rock her hips gently, brushing her sex against his. She grabbed Tim's hands in her own and said, "This is my answer."

She smiled broadly when she saw the look of consternation leave Tim's face, even if he hadn't professed his love he had at least accepted this part of her and she wanted to give it to him so badly. It seemed that her enticements were having the desired effect on Tim and he grunted a little bit and then made a move to flip her over onto the bed, but she stopped him and stilled his arm.

"No, not that way… at least not tonight. I need to do it like this Tim." She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast as she leaned back. She wanted to do this, but she needed to do it on her terms. She was afraid that if she laid on her back and felt his weight upon her then the memories would be too strong and she would panic and not be able to carry on. She didn't want that, she didn't want another abortive attempt at lovemaking, she wanted her first time with this man she loved to be a total experience for her. One of mind, body and heart.

It was a surprisingly easy thing to do, more so than she had thought it would be. Perhaps it was the position they were in, she didn't feel vulnerable like this. She was actually a little startled at how strong and in control she felt being the one to set the pace for their lovemaking, it seemed to be the last piece of the puzzle to her feelings. There was a moment of hesitation as she felt the full length of him inside her, but she locked onto his face with her eyes and reached out her hand to touch his cheek to dismiss it.

"_This is Tim. My Tim. I love him._"

She smiled at the look on his face, it was so cute that she couldn't believe it. She had always thought that Tim was a very attractive man but he was even more so when his face was contorted in pleasure and it stoked the fires of her own feelings. She was careful however, not to lose sight of her lovers face. It was the anchor to her emotions that allowed her to remain here in the present and not traveling down the dark corridors of her mind. She had scars to heal and it would take a lot of time and a lot of love, but eventually they would go away and when they did she would give herself over completely to this man and sit back and bask in the joy of his passion. Until then however, she would do what she had to in order to master her fears.

"_I wonder what he'd look like without that beard?_"

It was a strange thought, one of the many strange thoughts that popped into her head while she was grinding her hips on him. It seemed odd to her that her brain would be so random while her body was so worked up, but she didn't pay much attention to it because it was in a way part of her plan – thinking about him. If she thought of Tim, and only him, then the fear stayed away and her body burned with pleasure, it was as simple as that.

Tim was stirring her inside now and she felt his passion strongly. It excited her immensely and when he pulled himself up to her and began to lightly run his lips across her nipples it sent her over the edge. Soon she was shaking and thrashing on top of him in the throws of a powerful orgasm. She waited for the warm glow to subside and when it didn't and when she realized that Tim was still going at it, her eyes went wide. It wasn't long before the same wonderful feeling began to build inside her and she discovered something about herself that she didn't know before.

"_Multi-orgasmic… ahh"_

An hour later, both of them covered with sweat and the remains of their lovemaking, they finally collapsed in each other's arms from exhaustion. Shego snuggled up to Tim's side and basked in the warmth of his body while she trailed a finger across his chest.

"Tim…" she muttered while she tried to crawl deeper into his side. It wasn't the prelude to a conversation; at least not really, she just liked saying his name.

Tim, for his part, turned his head and gave her a hot kiss on the lips that soon turned into another furious make-out session. When they broke away, minutes later, he left his face nestled in her shoulder and began to whisper to her.

"I love you too."

Shego's heart skipped a beat at the sound of those words and she found herself burning with desire anew. This was yet another new experience in a long list of new experiences that she was mentally filing away in a folder probably named, "About Tim". As her mouth moved across his chest she was grateful that for once she allowed herself to risk something, a fragile part of herself that she was afraid of being injured. She had taken the gamble and the rewards were something more than she had ever hoped for. It seemed like nothing she ever had and nothing she ever would have could possibly come close to rivaling the sublime bliss of being one with someone she loved.

The kissing and the lovemaking didn't end until long into the night.

-

A/N: Wow, I wrote like over 3000 words of pure smuff for this chapter. Not much to say here, but I left this as it's separate chapter so that people could skip it if they want to. I'll allude to events that transpired here in the next chapter so as to form some continuity between chapter 9 and 11, so no loss there really if someone didn't want to read it.

The implications of the events that transpired here should be obvious for everyone who's been following the story. I'll go a little bit more into Ron's POV in the next chapter, but I felt that this event was more Shego's story than his – after all, even though Ron has his own issues to overcome in their relationship, his are or more of an "after the fact" sort of deal, where he can push them off into the distant future in his mind to be dealt with later. Shego on the other hand has very real and immediate hurdles that she needs to overcome. I hope I did justice to the seriousness of the situation of her abuse and how it had left an emotional wound on her.

I toyed with the idea of having Ron blurt out his identity at the end, but I decided against it because I really wanted Shego to have this moment. She's been through a lot so I thought she deserved, at least for a little while, to have something she had always wanted (love). I left her satisfied and happy, but I'm afraid we all know it's not going to last for long.

Also, I thought it would be exceptionally cruel to have her struggle so hard to triumph in her feelings over her fears only to be brought low again by the sudden revelation when she is at her most vulnerable. Although Ron wants to be honest with her, even he isn't stupid enough to spring something like that at such a time.

To me, the entire lime scene was sort of bittersweet. All you have to do is stretch your mind a little bit so that you have some empathy with Shego and I think you'll understand what I'm saying. Her love is a very fragile thing and it comes with a lot of baggage and scars, but even through all this she was at long last able to find the thing that had eluded her for so long.

Anyway the next chapter will be more along the lines of my normal length, and expect a few instances of more lime-like goodness interspersed with the rest of the series, maybe even another full on smuff scene, but that's not the entire thrust of my story (wow what is it with me and the double entendre's tonight?)

Once again, thanks for reading and reviewing – see you next chapter.

QC


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Ron stared in wonder at the sleeping form beside him. He searched his feelings, trying scan for any trace of regret, but he was, much to his surprise, unable to find any. Still he knew that the situation between him and Shego had become dangerously unstable, or perhaps more aptly, dangerously stable. It all depended on how you looked at things.

He reflected on the events of the last couple of weeks and how things had transpired to bring him and Shego closer together. It wasn't really in his plan, at least not at the start, but now he knew that there was no going back. After what they did last night, Shego had gone from a doomed plot hatched by his alter ego to someone whom Ron Stoppable deeply cared about.

"_No, that's not fair… I love her._"

It was a simple statement said only to himself but he knew that he needed to face it down, to stare full bore into the stark reality of his feelings and deal with the consequences. He needed to tell her everything, but he didn't know how and he had to admit that he was afraid of what might happen to their fragile new love once the truth was known.

"_I do need to tell her, really I do. But how? What can I say? And what's going to happen to her when she finds out…_"

He was reluctant to tell Shego the truth and maybe it did seem a little like cowardice, but there was a big part of Ron's heart that knew that if he handled the situation poorly then it would break her heart. Ron put his hand out to gently caress the side of this incredible woman's face and thought, "_Can I really hurt her that much… hurt her more than I already have_?" A dark thought came to his mind. What if he, Ron Stoppable, just rode the situation out as North? What if he would live this life for Shego like he had lived a past one for the sake of Iris?

It was a possibility, but not one that he particularly relished and besides he was more than a little fearful about what the outcome would be. Not that he would eventually be separated from her by death, he had already come to accept the fact that death was inevitable, but because for first time in nearly a dozen lifetimes he was unsure of what the future held.

Fiske knew who he was.

The thought was a sobering one. Ever since the night of the ball, when he had been wounded, he had cursed his own stupidity and his complete lack of foresight. He had been so used to events transpiring in a certain way, of the future being already laid out before him, that he had never even bothered once to contemplate that the mere _presence_ of Shego in his life would change the course of those events. Now, because of his own lack of planning, he was forced into a position of weakness, one that he had not accounted for.

"_My own choice, the only one that gives me even a chance of succeeding is to strike first._"

Ron had been preparing his own plans, just like Fiske had been plotting his and he knew that he couldn't afford to waste any more time. Already he had spent two weeks since the discovery of his identity both recovering from his wound as well as arraying his forces. At his word a veritable army of agents would begin his plan to assault Fiske's worldly organizations. Warehouses would be burnt to the ground, suppliers would be threatened or blackmailed, financial bidding wars would ensue, currencies would tumble, and military powers that Fiske supported would find their opponents freshly supplied. It was a strategy of all out black-ops war. Ron would shake the very foundations of the world with the struggle and hopefully toss both him and Fiske into ruin.

It wasn't something that he relished doing, in fact he got sick to his stomach whenever he thought about the fallout it would have on millions of innocent people, but he had precious little recourse in the matter. If Fiske was allowed to continue with his financial plans, then sooner or later he would literally just _own_ the world out-right. And Ron from his own business experience knew that owning the world was tantamount to ruling it – if you added a little influence from say, _Tempus Simia_, then the reality of the situation became frightening. Fiske could size industry in this century, catapult himself into the future, and literally control the world.

"_But he's always failed before…_"

Ron had a sinking feeling in his stomach. It had already been proven to him that just because things had _always_ happened in a certain way that was no guarantee that they would remain so. He looked at Shego's sleeping form and wondered just how much of an influence she had on what was about to unfold. He had often thought that she might be the final piece of the puzzle he needed to break his stalemate with Monkey Fist and now it seemed that his hunch had been right. He just hadn't counted on the effect she would have on _him_.

She was beautiful, but that went without saying, she was deadly, but that also went without saying. Those two facts were well known throughout the world. But she was also sweet, passionate and a little delicate. These were things that perhaps Ron was the only one to know and he marveled at how this knowledge had come to him. His hand moved from her hair and to her back where he rubbed her smooth skin in slow circular patterns. Shego stirred a little, but didn't wake up. Instead her sleeping expression changed to one of contentment and happiness. Ron hoped she was having a good dream and he regretted the hell he was going to put her through. He didn't want to, but he knew he had no choice. Fiske had to be stopped, no matter what it cost her, or him, even if it cost them the love that they had found.

"Mmm…. Tim that feels niceeeeee," purred Shego. Evidently she was more awake than he had thought.

"_Maybe I'll let her be happy, at least for a little while…_"

"Bella, can I tell you something important?" Ron leaned down to whisper in her ear.

Shego's body tightened up a little bit and she turned her face to look at him. She looked concerned and apprehensive.

"_She's so fragile, she's so worried that I'm going to reject her._"

He didn't know if it was for her sake or his that he made the decision to keep playing at North for the time being. He couldn't sort out his feelings.

"I love you," Ron finally said while he leaned in to kiss her. His statement was rewarded with the biggest smile he had seen in a long time and a kiss in return. He mused that there were worse ways to start the day where you'd bring the world to its knees.

Eventually their kissing subsided and Ron lay on his back with Shego draped across his chest, her naked flesh felt warm to him and his body stirred a little at the memory of last night. It was an incredible experience, not simply because of the physical aspect, but because he had felt a deep emotional connection to her. He wondered if any other man had ever seen that side of Shego and he was a tiny bit embarrassed at the pang of jealousy that acompanied the thought.

"So Tim…" drawled Shego languidly, feeling flush with their contact, "What are your plans for today?"

Ron used his good arm to hug her close and then kissed her on the nose playfully.

"Well, hopefully I'll have overthrown at least _one_ government by noon."

-

Shego stood to the side of the large room, watching the various men run around waving papers and yelling at messengers. In the middle of all this din stood the man she loved, serene and in charge, looking impassively out amongst the chaos.

"_The more things change, the more they stay the same._"

It was an amusing thought, but not one that didn't have a tinge of bitterness to it. Shego had long spent her adult years working for Drakken in his various plots to take over the world, so the sight before he was not really anything new. It was however, not something she would have ever expected from the gentlemanly Tim North. Also, there was another strange difference and unsettling difference between Tim and Drakken. Instead of trying to take over the world, it seemed that Tim was trying to ruin it.

"Let me get this straight again Tim, you're not trying to take over the world?" Shego asked.

"Correct. I have no interest in taking over the world. I wouldn't know what to do with it if I had it." Ron said while he was going over a report that a carrier had just delivered.

"Then why all this?" she gestured to the room. "and why all the men? I've seen some of the reports you've been reading, you're backing conflicts across the globe. I don't understand…."

Those last words, "I don't understand", resonated with Ron. The way Shego said them it was if she was disappointed in him. He ruefully thought that this disappointment wouldn't be the greatest one he would give her.

"It's because of Fiske," he stated bluntly.

"Is it about the ball? About the fight we had?" Shego wondered if Tim was doing this solely out of an urge to protect her from Monkey Fist. She quickly dismissed the thought. Tim was kind and protective of her, but he wouldn't take such extreme measures like this without good reason. At least she hoped so.

"It's more than that Bella. Look, I haven't been entirely honest with you about a few things, so let me start by making them clear." Ron was measuring his words now, he needed to tell Shego _some_ information, that much was sure. But he wanted to zealously guard anything that would drive a wedge between them. It was pure selfishness on his part and he knew it.

"First of all, Fiske is from the future." He knew that she would already know this, so he started off with something to give himself some credence.

Shego looked at him with a questioning eye, "How did you find this out?"

Ron quickly buried his nose in a paper so that Shego couldn't see his apologetic eyes while he lied to her, "I have the best spies in the Empire love, very little escapes my notice."

Shego seemed to relax a little at these words. He didn't know if it was because she believed his lie or because he had called her "love". He hated himself for being so manipulative, even now with things coming to the wire he was still playing North to the hilt.

"Ok so Fiske is from the future, that still doesn't exactly explain what you're doing." Shego was reluctant to give the point up.

"This is Fiske's plan, at least as far as I know. He intends to use his knowledge from the future to become the worlds richest man, a goal that he is already well on his way to." Ron paused for a moment to take a sip from a cup of tea that Iris had brought him.

"Once his financial empire is secure, he intends to use an artifact that he has discovered to send himself back to his rightful time and then use his fabulous wealth and many loyal institutions to take over the world. It's a simple plan, even if it does sound like fantasy." Ron peered over the edge of his cup and tried to read Shego's face.

Eventually she spoke, "So you're destroying his businesses? So he won't have as great of a chance of taking over the world if he…" she paused for a moment, contemplating something, "gets back to the future?"

"Correct," stated Ron as he received a parcel from a delivery boy.

Shego tried to digest everything she had just heard. Tim was fighting Fiske, he had already admitted as much. However she didn't know to what _extent_ the two were involved with each other. When she looked at the devious plans and orders that were emerging from Tim's mouth, she did have to admit that the ex-super villain in her felt a slight swell of pride. He was good, _very_ good. She had only ever known one other man that was as devious as him and she shuddered to think of the fallout in a battle between Timothy North and Zorpax the Destroyer.

Still, if Monkey Fist had a way to get back to the future… one that didn't involve killing her, then would she take it? She looked at Tim as he was busy giving orders to his lieutenants and she mused that for the first time since she had arrived in the 19th century she had absolutely no desire to leave. The future would be a very lonely place if she couldn't share it with the man she loved and she resolved that if things came right down to it, she would go wherever Tim went. It was perhaps foolish of her, but he had revived a dream in her that she had thought she had given up on and she wasn't about to let it go.

"All right, I suppose that's about all I can do from here. Time to hit the road," stated Ron.

"What? Are you going someplace?" A tinge of nervousness had crept into Shego's voice, she didn't want him to leave her while he went on another one of his trips.

"Yes, but only to London. I am going to meet some compatriots and together we are going to take the fight directly to Fiske." Ron knew what effect these words would have on Shego. He knew that she would want to come. Part of himself wanted to force her to stay, but another, more calculating part of his mind knew that he desperately needed her help for any chance at victory.

"I'm going with you," was Shego's response. It was stated in a tone that brooked no disagreement.

Ron just nodded his head and led her from the room. His heart was heavy, but he knew he couldn't get weak right at the end.

Shego followed Tim up through the halls of his mansion, arriving at his personal study. They went inside and Tim locked the door behind them.

"What are we doing here Tim? I thought we were going to London…" her voice trailed off as she watched her lover place his hand on a protruding piece of fireplace masonry. There was a loud grinding sound and the entire stone façade swung out into the room, revealing a hidden chamber..

"We're getting thing's we'll need. I wont lie to you Sh-Bella, this is going to be very dangerous." Ron cursed at himself, he was so worked up about what he was about to do that he almost called Shego by her name. Thankfully she was so stunned by the sudden turn of events she didn't seem to notice his momentary slip.

"Is this…" Shego looked at the room before her, it was filled with weapons, most of them archaic melee ones, but a few that looked extremely out of place. Her eyes caught onto a large rifle hanging from the wall, it looked to be a sighted, breech loading sniper rifle.

"_How the HELL did he get all this?_" Shego's suspicious was running high.

"Tim… where…" She was eying the rifle out of the corner of her eye.

Ron inwardly sighed and then launched into yet _another_ lie to the woman he loved. He was busily burying himself in a hole that he would never be able to climb out of.

"I stole them. The designs at least, from Fiske." Ron walked over to the sniper rifle that Shego was eying and removed it from the wall. He then turned around and presented it from Shego.

"Bella, do you remember the first note I wrote to you, the one that I left when you had arrived from the hospital?" he said softly.

Shego nodded and received the rifle.

"Those words I wrote on the back… I know Bella, I know that you're from the future," it was a confession of sorts, but not the one that he felt he should give her.

Shego's eyes went wide and Ron silenced her with a kiss.

"It's ok. Remember how I said I knew Fiske was looking for you? My spies are very good." Ron wondered how much longer he could continue to blame his mysterious knowledge on non-existent super-spies.

"Also…" he continued, "I want you to know something Bella." He reached out and took her hand in his own.

"It doesn't matter to me where you're from, or even what you did when you were there, or even what kind of person you used to be." Ron was perhaps letting a little bit too much information out, more than he should have, but his emotions were on the razors edge.

"I love you. I want you to believe that," he said this in a soft voice and with as much feeling as he could muster. He wanted to say more to her, a lot more, but what he did say was true enough. He knew who she was and he knew what she had done before coming here, and he didn't care. The woman that he had come to know was one that he deeply cherished.

Shego was overcome with emotion, so much so that she didn't really bother to stop and think about the implications of what Tim was saying. It was probably the words themselves, because they actually _were_ something that she desperately wanted to hear. She had spent many long hours comparing herself and her life to that of this man and she often noted that she fell short in many ways. It made her feel like she didn't deserve to even love him, let alone have him love her back. To hear him say this to her was more than she could have hoped for. She found herself choking back a sob as she threw her arms around him.

"Tim, you'll never know just how much that means to me," she whispered to him.

Ron made a decision right then and there. Tim North tried to over rule it, but for the first time in years the calculating alter ego was beaten back by Ron's inner self.

"Bella, I don't think you should come. It will be dangerous and to be honest, one of us, or even both of us might die. Maybe I'll even call this mission off… at least for today." He meant it, if he struck at Fiske tonight or within the week, it would be of little matter. However, a little more time with Shego… it would be worth it.

Shego looked at the rifle that Tim had given her. It was serviceable, a little heavy for her tastes, but she had used firearms before even if she hadn't preferred them. The fact that she could normally shoot high intensity plasma from her hands made most weapons useless. Of course, a sniper rifle _had_ come in handy before in the past…

Then she looked at Tim and saw the concern in his face. No man had actually looked at her like that before, like they were worried about _her_ welfare. Like they wanted to make sure that _she_ was ok.

"Tim, if you call it off now… It's only temporary isn't it?" Shego asked, knowing ahead of time what the answer would likely be.

Ron sighed. This wasn't going to be easy on him.

"Yes, eventually… I'll have to strike, or risk Fiske retaliating against me. Even now there is a chance of an attack from him and the game has only just started…." Ron knew it was the truth. He had been trying to follow the movements of Fiske's own forces for a week now and he knew it wouldn't be long before the Monkey Master came after him. He had to be the first one to launch an attack.

"Where's the ammunition?" she bluntly asked. She was more than a little nervous about the prospect of going after Monkey Fist on his own turf, but she was determined to see that Tim made it through safe and sound. She wasn't going to lose him so soon after she had become his lover.

Ron had suspected that she would feel this way so he didn't fight it. It had after all been part of his plan, hadn't it? Lure Shego into his trap, make her love him and then use her against Fiske. It all made him feel so dirty now, like he had betrayed something beautiful in his life. Still, there was no turning back – even if he wanted to, it would just end brutally and most likely with either him or Shego dead.

Ron motioned to a small box on the floor and then began to take off his clothes so he could change into something more appropriate for the evening's activities. Shego opened the box and began to inspect the ammunition, but she caught a glimpse of Tim's bare chest and started to spy on him instead.

"_Mmm… oh I'm getting distracted_." She felt a familiar tingle as she started to remember the heat of last night's lovemaking and she laughed inwardly at herself. Never would she have ever thought she would be so helplessly taken with a man.

Ron winked at her while he was changing his clothes and then he retrieved something from a shelf that she hadn't seen before, "Here, this is for you. I thought it was fitting".

Shego received the bundle and then opened it up. Inside was a silk Chinese style martial artists suit. It was black, trimmed with green and had embroidered tigers on the sleeves. It had obviously been cut for a woman. She looked at Tim quizzically.

Ron caught the look and smiled at her while he finished putting on his black ninja suit. His shoulder was still sore, although his Mystical Monkey Power had hastened the healing process. Still, he needed to save all his strength for tonight so he tied his arm in a makeshift sling.

"Hey, it's hard to fight evil if you're not looking your best," he responded to her inquisitive look with a devilish grin of his own.

Shego smirked at him. _"Me, fighting evil? No way Tim, I'm fighting for you…_"

Taking a cue from Tim, she stood to her full height and started to remove her own clothes. She caught Tim looking at her and decided to have a little fun.

"Please, enjoy the show," she said, bending over and blowing him a kiss and a naughty look.

Ron blushed and then said, "If I did, I doubt we'd make it to London…" his voice was low and throaty and Shego very much appreciated the tone.

"_Bad girl! Bad girl!_ _Oh… but he likes a bad girl!_" Shego flushed a little bit at her own thoughts and the erotic sensation of the soft silk against her skin. If she kept flirting like this, then she'd be far too agitated to keep her hands off him while they would be trying to focus on "business".

Ron paused for a moment and then contemplated his next move. He was hoping that she wouldn't recognize it, after all he had rarely used it, but he knew that tonight of all nights he was going to have to pull out all the stops. He reasoned he had to take his chances and went to a long box against the wall. Inside was something that was his; something that it seemed had incredibly _always_ been his. It was something that he had retrieved before setting sail for Europe ten years ago.

Reverently Ron opened the cherry wood box before him and beheld the sight of his most precious possession resting on red velvet. His hand went out and reached around the hilt. It was comforting, like being reunited with an old friend. With a quick motion he raised it over his head with a speed that made the air audibly split.

Shego caught the movement and her eyes locked onto her lover. Tim North, it seemed, was a man that was full of mystery and like most women she loved a mysterious man, it made the prospect of discovering his secrets slightly erotic. Still, she was surprised with the skill that he had just demonstrated, it was… amazing and more than a little sexy.

Ron turned around to face Shego. If she had noticed anything, her eyes didn't betray the fact. He smiled at her as he sheathed the blade to his back. The weight across his shoulder felt reassuring and comforting, it had been a long time since they had been together and it wasn't until now that he realized just how much he had missed it.

He calmed his breath and let his chi subside, focusing for a moment on inner peace. There was a subtle change, one that most people, even accomplished martial artists like Shego, wouldn't recognize. The effect however, was profound and if he had known about it, Lord Montgomery Fiske would have been _very_ afraid.

Ron Stoppable and the Lotus blade were once again joined in harmony.

-

The ride from Richmond to London took longer than Shego had expected. The weather was particularly foul and caused them to make slow progress through snow slicked streets. It was a portent perhaps, of things to come.

The strangest part of the entire trip, at least from Shego's perspective, was the fact that the Tim had brought his cook a long with them. Molly was a short, somewhat plump, fiery red headed woman with a light voice and a bit of a witty tongue. Shego got along with her, but she had never actually taken Tim's advice to make a friendship with the woman and now she was regretting that fact. Perhaps if she had gotten close to Molly in the months prior, then her unexpected presence on this trip would make some sense to her. She had tried to ask Tim about it once, but he responded cryptically to her that one of the men they were going to see was a relative of Molly's. She couldn't really get very much more information than that out of him, given the subject of her inquiry was sitting only a foot away from her in the carriage.

That was yet another thing that bothered Shego. It wasn't that she didn't like Molly, but her presence in the carriage was putting a damper on what might have _otherwise_ been a very fun trip to the city. As it was, she was nestled under a blanket that she shared with Tim and while it felt good to have his body heat next to hers, it wasn't quite as fulfilling as the things that she really wanted to do. She was sadly sure that there was an opportunity here that had passed her by.

Eventually the carriage slowed down and the clomping hooves of the horses came to a halt. Shego looked at Tim expectantly and he smiled at her.

"We're here. Come on, lets all go inside and I'll introduce you to some… _associates_ of mine." Tim seemed to be forcing himself to remain cheery, probably for her sake.

He then stepped out of the carriage and helped both her and Molly down from the high step in turn. Shego thought it was an unnecessary gesture on his behalf, but appreciated it nonetheless. The carriage had seemed to arrive in what looked to be a rather out of the way type of place. The streets in this part of the city were sometimes narrow, but in this place the buildings actually crowded together like they were competing for shoulder space and the large roofs and awnings hung over her head like a canopy of leaves.

"Where are we Tim?" she asked while he led the way from the carriage.

"Oh, no where specially really – but that's the entire point. We're just going to a little out of the way place, hopefully far enough out of the way that Fiske will be unaware of it," Tim's voice sounded distant to Shego, like he was conversing with her but his mind was actually on other things.

She didn't want to press the point so she silently followed him, without thinking much about it her hand went out to find his and he turned his head to look at her for a moment and smile. His hand felt warm in hers and the warmth was reassuring, almost enough to keep the chill of worry away from her heart. She wasn't worried for her self really, but Tim was injured and still determined to face down Monkey Fist. She remembered how brutally strong Fiske had been at their last encounter and she was afraid at how easily it might be for the Monkey Master to break this man that she loved so much.

"_No matter what, I wont let that happen. Tim will be coming out of this alive tonight, even if he's the only one._"

It sounded melodramatic to her to hear those words in her own mind, but there was a lot of truth behind them. She knew that she didn't want to be separated from Tim, especially not by death, but if she was presented with a choice to save him or herself, she knew what she would do. It felt odd to her to acknowledge that her feelings were so strong for this man, but at the same time it gave her quite a great deal of strength. It was different than the sort of rush she got from bullying or threatening her way through life as "Shego the villain". It was a gentler and quieter sort of feeling, but it was _strong_ – probably stronger than anything she had ever felt in her life.

Suddenly they paused in front of a non-descript looking building and Tim ran up the short stoop to knock on the front door. Within moments the door swung open and they were all three ushered inside to the unusual residence. Shego was momentarily surprised when three people, a man and two women, exited after them and hurried to waiting carriage. She nudged Tim on the shoulder.

"A decoy, they'll be traveling to a friends home, then having dinner, and later returning hopefully to here. If everything goes well, we shall switch with them again."

Tim's actions made sense to Shego. She could see how Fiske was probably having them watched so the distraction was likely to keep their movements secret until they were ready to strike.

After the "actors" left the house Shego was a little perplexed by what she found when she observed the contents of the rooms. She was expecting a home, because that's what it looked like on the outside, but on the inside it was more what one would call a safe house. There was a table, some chairs, a low couch against a wall and not much else. It was obvious that this residence was just a sham, probably a place that existed only for the purpose of giving Tim a place to hold clandestine meetings with people that he didn't want to be seen with, or make known his business with.

"Welcome _Onibasu-sama_, I come to your call."

This voice came from a man whom Shego had not noticed at first. He was thin, lithe even, and dressed all in black, much like Tim was. The word, "_Onibasu-sama_" and the accent he spoke in belied that he must have been Asian, most likely Japanese.

"Hello _Saito-san_, I take it the others are upstairs?" Tim said to the man as he took off his hat and placed it on a rickety looking table.

"_Hai_, playing cards again." The man who had been identified as Saito rolled his eyes at this statement, it was obvious that he didn't approve.

"Maybe I'll sit a hand or two," Ron grinned at Saito and then motioned for Shego to make her way up the stairs.

Just as his foot hit the third step a thought seemed to have sprung to his mind because he instantly stopped and turned to address Molly.

"Molly, be a dear and watch the door," he said.

The diminutive woman nodded her head at him and then she seemed to produce from nowhere a pistol that Shego thought looked remarkably similar to the one that Monkey Fist had used in his attempted assassination.

"_What a strange coincidence…_" she thought to herself, but Tim was heading up the stairs ahead of her so she paid it little mind as she rushed to follow him.

"Hello, what do we have here? A couple of scoundrels I see!" Ron said as he entered a room at the top of the stairs.

"North!" said one man as he sat up from his table, rather accidentally knocking what looked to be some coins that Shego couldn't identify onto the floor.

"Have a seat Ousby and deal me in. By the way, Bella this is Mr. Ousby and the gentleman across from him is Mr. McLeish. Gentlemen, may I have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to Ms. Bellatrix North, my cousin from America." Ron smiled at this statement and then proceeded to hold out a chair for Shego to sit on.

The man who had been identified as McLeish snorted a little at Shego's introduction, but continued to stare at his cards intently. Ron gave him a cross look and instantly the man's face went blank. Shego wondered what the entire exchange was about and it occurred to her that it was possibly that this McLeish fellow probably thought that a woman might be a liability on tonight's mission. A small smile spread across her face and was already anticipating the satisfaction of "strutting her stuff". It was a somewhat familiar feeling, the feel of adrenaline and anticipation that heightened her senses and made her skin tingle. She reflected for a moment that it wasn't all too far off from how she felt when she was alone with Tim and she wondered if for her there wasn't some sort of pseudo-sexual aspect to physical violence. It was something about herself that she had never thought of before and she was more than a little worried about it.

Tim pulled up a chair for her and then one for himself. He leaned over to her and said, "Feel like playing some cards?"

Shego thought for a moment and then said, "I don't know how to play." She had really never learned how to play games like that, her brothers were more interested in video games and she seldom spent any of her free time in the company of other people.

Tim hooked his good hand under the side of her chair and scooted it closer to him and then said to her, "That's ok – It's hard to play cards with one hand, so we can play together. We'll be a team!" The statement was said with a wink of his eye and so much enthusiasm that Shego couldn't refrain from giggling at his antics. She thought to herself, "_Is he really ten years older than me?_"

Ousby broke in at this time and said tartly, "I hope this doesn't mean I have to pair off with McLeish. No offense McLeish, but Ms. North has your beauty beat by a dozen leagues, at least!"

This earned Ousby a kick under the table from McLeish and a laugh from Shego. She instantly decided she liked the flirtatious man just as much as she disliked the dour McLeish. The two of them made an interesting pair and it was with a fair bit of surprise that she found out after the third hand of cards that the men had actually been friends nearly all their lives.

"So," began Tim, "Where's our esteemed inventor friend?" He said this to no one in particular.

McLeish was the one to respond and he gestured over his shoulder to the wall.

"He's should be sleeping. It wasn't as easy for him to get prepared for tonight as us. I think he wasn't planning on having _the device_ done for at least another month, so he pushed himself hard."

Tim looked almost regretful for a moment then moved to fetch some cards from Shego's hands, his fingers lightly brushing hers. As he threw down the cards he continued to speak, "I'll apologize to him when I see him but I felt confident he could get it done."

As Ousby dealt Tim two cards to replace the ones he discarded, there was a soft creaking from the door behind them and Shego turned around to see who was entering the room. Tim on the other hand was staring intently at his cards.

"After all," Tim started again, "Anything's possible…"

Shego could see the door finally open revealing a tall man, probably in his mid 40's with a clean shaven face and distinguished shock of white running through his hair. He looked bleary eyed and a little worn, but his voice was clear as he joined in with Tim's.

"For a Possible," both men finished the phrase at the same time.

Shego dropped the cards she was holding.

-

Ron's face was a stone rock, he was doing the best job he could to keep from breaking out in a grin, or heaven forbid, a laugh. The look on Shego's face when she finally realized the identity of man that had entered the room was priceless. He felt that perhaps it was unfair of him to take so much pleasure in seeing her so dumbfounded, but he had to admit that when he first ran across Nathan Alexander Possible and his sister Molly, that Ron was nearly just as flummoxed. It seemed that it didn't matter to exactly _what_ century it was, the Possibles were destined to forever be the thorn in the side of super villains bent on taking over the world. Ron idly mused if it was a genetic quality, or just some dumb stroke of fate.

"Nathan!" he exclaimed, "Please, have a seat and tell me how everything's gone?"

The lanky inventor smiled at Ron and then rubbed his hand through his somewhat messy hair. He plopped his over extended frame down in a rickety chair and raised his hand in Ron's direction.

"Gladly Tim, but first you absolutely _must_ tell me who this lovely creature is!" exclaimed the genteel inventor.

Ron wondered how he was going to explain his way out of this one. Nathan wasn't an ordinary man, nor was Ron's relationship with him the same as he kept with other people in this time. Nathan, like Molly, knew nearly the entirety of his particular situation and it was a relationship of trust that Ron not only desired, but actually _needed_ to keep himself from going completely insane. He had so many secrets, he just couldn't possibly keep them to himself. He decided for now to go with the lie, mostly for the sake of Ousby and McLeish, but he knew that Nathan would be able to tell what he was saying.

"Ah, this is my _cousin_," the word was stressed for effect, "Ms. Bellatrix North. She's from very far away, in America and she's helping us tonight in our little plot."

Nathan smiled at Shego and offered his hand, which she reluctantly took. It seemed that Shego was having an internal battle between her shock, her confusion and quite possibly some inborn distrust or dislike for anyone with the surname "Possible".

"Pleasure to meet you Ms. North, and I must thank you sincerely as well!" he said this with a bow and a flourish.

Shego was confused, she merely said, "Thank me?"

Nathan raised his eyes up from the floor and met her gaze with a grin, "You've saved us all! Timothy is normally as ornery as a rabid bear and I'm sure his recent bout of good humor is entirely attributed to you!"

Nathan added an impish wink to the end of his statement that, much to Ron's surprise, actually caused Shego to laugh. He could actually see her body visibly relax and the he smiled internally. Nathan was laying it on a little thick, but he did a good job and seemed to win Shego over instantly. Ron was happy that at least one of his concerns for tonight seemed to be put aside – he needed Nathan and Shego to work together if they were to be successful for the plan that he had hastily thrown together.

"Come now you scoundrel, what would Emma think?" Ron said playfully to Nathan with a grin.

For his part Nathan leaned back in his chair and looked sheepish, "Oh she already knows I'm completely incorrigible…" he thought for a moment and then broke out in a grin, "Of course what she doesn't know…"

Ron gave him a faux-serious look and stage whispered, "Molly's downstairs…"

Nathan feigned a look of defeat and said, "Dash it – she's been tattling on me since she was old enough to walk."

This brought out an array of amused chuckles from everyone that was assembled in the room.

Nathan looked serious for a moment and then said, "Tim, is she going with us tonight?" Ron could tell by the tone of Nathan's voice what answer he wanted to hear, so he gave it to him.

"No, Bella is taking her place in tonight's plans. Molly is going to guard the house with her guns. Although I wonder how much guarding she's doing with Saito downstairs…" Ron rolled his eyes.

Nathan arched an eyebrow as he considered the implications of Ron's statement and Ron couldn't help but feel that perhaps the genius inventor was going to pass down a certain trait of over protectiveness to another Possible centuries later. He mused that Saito was lucky that space probes hadn't been invented yet.

McLeish was the one to distract Nathan and he did it by asking a question that was on everyone's mind.

"Tim, when do we leave?" he said this as he placed his cards down on the table. Ron cursed a little bit inside, McLeish always held the best hand.

"Nathan, is the device done?" he asked the brown haired man.

"Yes and I even think it might work!" Nathan grinned as he said this.

"Well, if that's the case then we'll leave at dusk. Saito and I will lead the way and Bella will be taking over Saito's place, so you'll be following her." Ron stated.

McLeish snorted again and Ron shot him a look.

"Things aren't always as they seem McLeish, you'd do well to remember that." Ron said cryptically.

It seemed to silence McLeish, the man was obstinate sometimes, but he trusted Ron implicitly. After all, Ron had never lead any of these men astray in their nearly decade long association and together they had done their best job of thwarting Fiske. They weren't the entirety of Ron's compatriots in this battle, but they were the best, each one bringing their own skills and grudges to the battle ahead.

Saito, like Ron, studied at Yamanouchi. The two men met when Ron came to reclaim the Lotus Blade from it's resting place and Saito had challenged him to a duel of honor because he couldn't believe the audacity of the gaijin. The duel became a moot point when half way through Ron raised his arm and summoned the blade to his hand. Saito instantly recognized his mistake and his pride was replaced by grief for having stood in opposition of the Chosen One. Although he didn't need an explanation, Ron told him of his battle with Fiske and the honorable ninja had followed him ever since.

Ousby and McLeish were two men that Ron met in India. They were former soldiers that had become disillusioned with strict military life and the brutal treatment that the native population suffered under colonial rule. Both men had "gone native" and literally dropped out of western society. However with few resources and little training in things other than warfare, they unfortunately found their way into the employment of Fiske who was partaking in opium trade in what would eventually become Afghanistan. It was during this time that they ran into Ron who managed to expose to them the evils that Fiske was perpetrating on the peasants that they held so much sympathy for. Eventually they turned on Fiske, helping Ron destroy a great deal if his drug operations. However in retaliation Fiske had both of the men's extended families killed, earning him their eternal enmity and Ron two lethal allies.

Nathan and Molly were friends and Ron felt a special kinship to them. It was probably because of his childhood being partially raised by their distant descendants and partially because Nathan reminded him so much of James, whom he thought of as a second father. One of the many things Fiske had tried to do when he eventually arrived in Europe was to make sure that one of his hated enemy in the future, Kim Possible, would never be born. Ron had literally arrived in the nick of time to foil an assassination plot against them and the entire extended Possible family. He then used his resources to relocate Nathan's family to a more secure location and grant them a degree of protection from Fiske's continued villainy, even going so far as to keep Nathan's sister under his employ and personal protection.

Ron sighed a little bit. This night had come before, many times in the past and he wondered if it would be different this time. It was earlier, much earlier than he usually went after Fiske and while that would make some difference, he was mostly counting on the presence of Shego to shift the hand of fate in his favor. He remembered vividly scenes of Ousby using his bulk to shield him from a barrage of bullets, or McLeish locked in a deadly knife fight with Cager that would send both men plummeting to their doom. He even recalled the grief stricken face of Nathan as he cradled his sisters broken body in his arms.

He had sent these people to their death's so many times and he hated himself for what he was about to do, yet he still somehow held out a tiny bit of hope. His eyes fell upon the raven-haired beauty at his side and saw her return his look. It was one filled with worry, but also love and it lifted his spirits.

Maybe, just maybe, she would save him. Maybe she would save them all.

The question in his mind of course, was if he could live with himself for using her this way. He saw the love in her eyes and as much as it warmed his heart, he felt bitter and hateful towards himself for what he had done and what he was about to do.

"_Shego, please forgive me._"

-

A/N: It's chapter 11 and Ron has gone to war! I'm slowing down a little bit, not from lack of wanting to continue the story, but because of time constraints, so don't worry if updates start coming every 3 days or so.

Anyway, I suppose there were a few surprises in this chapter and some loose ends tied up, but there are still a few more threads to go before I've brought everything together. The next chapter will feature the conflict between Ron and his team and Fiske and his, so be prepared for the battle ahead. Ron's past (or past lives if you will) is finally catching up with him and his relationship with Shego is about to be tested. We'll have to see how these two handle things once the inevitable happens.

I hope everyone is looking forward to the next chapter!

Once again, thanks for reading and reviewing.

QC


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Walking the Crooked Path

Nathan Possible held his side, trying to abate the pain from the stitch that had formed there. His breathing was heavy and labored and his vision swam a little in front of his eyes, but he fought on regardless. The demoness fluttered ahead of him in the darkened hallway, a vision in black silk that seemed to melt into the shadows as she silently stalked her prey.

It struck him funny that his partner in tonight's endeavor had been switched at the last moment from his reliable sibling to this woman who was a self-proclaimed antagonist of one of his ancestors. Fate, it seemed, had a sick sense of humor and Nathan noted grimly that if in his current state she turned on him, there would be little he could do.

He wasn't seriously injured, he was just winded and it showed. He was a little embarrassed; he had always prided himself on his fitness, but tonight was something different. The raucous fighting that had marked their groups arrival on the scene had died down and what now laid before him was something skin to storming a castle, or driving out bandits from a den. The halls and rooms ahead were filled with the minions of Lord Montgomery Fiske lying in wait for all of them. It was a dangerous situation but North was insistent that it would be their best and only chance to thwart the madman.

The woman, Bella, or _Shego_ as he had originally learned her name, emerged from the shadows long enough to give him a simple hand signal that he took to mean, "_Wait"_, and then she returned to her prowling. Nathan was glad for the rest and he slumped his back against a wall and used the blade of his saber to steady himself. His lungs burned a little bit as he forced air into them and he tried to calm himself.

He reflected upon his first meeting with Ron, or Tim as he called himself in this time. At first he had thought the man to be out of his mind, but slowly he started to reveal a story to Nathan that while filled with fancy, seemed to ring true to him. Time traveling, past lives, a villain from the future that posed a threat to not only him but the world, a strange idol of unknown origins. The story was bizarre, but so well put together that it made him wonder if perhaps one of his friends had put the man up to it as a prank, hoping to draw upon Nathan's science obsessed mind to lure him into making a fool of himself.

All such thoughts were quickly driven from Nathan's head by a simple phrase that the man had spoke to him, "He's going to try to kill your family and he's going to try to do it tonight."

He had said it with such intensity that Nathan couldn't brush it away no matter how much his logical mind had wanted to dismiss the man's story as nothing more than a tall tale. It haunted his thoughts as he toiled in his workshop, it made him nervous and it made him scared. Eventually he couldn't take it any longer and he closed up for the day, frantically grasping at his hat and coat as he barreled out of the door of his shop. He thought himself foolish and berated himself numerous times on the long walk back to his home, but then he saw it in the distance and his heart nearly leapt from his chest in fear.

Smoke, the blackest smoke he had ever seen, broiling and wavering off into the crisp fall night.

He ran the last few blocks to his home in a state of frenzied panic and as he came upon the street of his residence there were tears in his eyes from what he feared to see.

"Emma!" he screamed as he found his wife outside their burning residence. She was on her knees in the street, a group of people around her looking dour as she wept and wailed in an inconsolable voice.

Nathan wasted no time in getting to her side, he shouldered aside some of the onlookers and took his wife in his arms. He held her head to his and looked at her with an expression that showed every ounce of his terror.

"Emma! Where are the children?" he said to her, his hands shaking on the sides of her face.

She looked up at him and sobbed again, finally she realized she was speaking to her husband and told him her tale, "I went shopping. I left them with their nanny… oh Nathan they're not here! Where are my babies?"

Nathan turned his head back to his home. His family had lived on this London lane for three generations. Inside the burning house was lifetimes worth of memories and heirlooms that were irreplaceable, but nothing so much as the tiny lives he had left here today. He was overcome with grief and he lost his senses and sprang towards the door. The men around him grabbed on to him and held him back. They weren't being cruel, indeed they understood profoundly the look on Nathan's face, but it was obvious that there was very little that could be done. Already the fire was spreading and it would probably claim many homes before it was done and there was no need in anyone's eyes for it to further claim the life of this grief-stricken man.

He railed slightly at the arms holding him back and then slumped forward in defeat. He knew the truth, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it. The man had warned him that this would happen, perhaps it was even a _threat_ – the prospect of the man being the arsonist made his blood run cold. Perhaps he had been taunting him, knowing all along that he would later make his threat come true. Nathan hated himself for not realizing the inherent possibility.

There was a loud groaning shudder as part of the houses façade gave away and crashed to the floor. Burnt wood, ash and sparks flew up into the air and rained down upon the crowd in the street. Nathan clenched his fists and vowed that he would do whatever it took to get vengeance on the one responsible for the murder of his family. Almost by cue, there was a loud snapping sound of bursting timbers and the front door of his house crashed open.

He looked up and was shocked and overjoyed by what he saw. Standing in the wavering heat was his two young boys, their nanny Francis was clutching them to her chest and climbing over the still burning cinders that littered their front porch. Behind her stood a man covered with soot from head to toe, the rumpled blonde hair instantly gave his identity away as the man who had visited him earlier in the day. He had taken off his coat and wrapped it around a young girl, Nathan's daughter Aida whom he held cradled in his arms.

The twins were crying and the sound instantly roused their mother from her grief. She was frantic as she pushed her way through the crowd and made her way to Francis to check on her boys. The man, Nathan remembered his name as North, strode forward with practiced dexterity into the street and started yelling.

"Make way! Give me room!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Nathan was incensed that this man would go so far as to taunt him so viciously. He threw off the stunned arms of the men that had held him back and launched himself at North to tear his daughter from the man's grasp. He placed his arms upon his daughter and was met with resistance from North.

"Wait! She's stopped breathing! I need room do you understand?" he yelled.

Nathan was shocked. He looked at Aida, her chest wasn't moving, her lips looked blue. The man shouldered his way to a bare space of street and placed Aida down on her back, he barked now at the crowd in a commanding voice, "Get the hell away now!" The threat and venom in his voice was palatable and it spurred Nathan to movement. He ran over to the pair and started pushing away the crowd that was looking on at the spectacle with grim fascination.

He held his arms out to bar the crowd from approaching and turned his head over his shoulder to watch the man. He had removed his coat from Aida and ripped the top of her dress down her chest. He had his hands upon her and he was pushing with a certain rhythm. He then alternated his movements and pinched his daughters nose while he blew air into her mouth. He repeated this sequence a couple of more times and Nathan had just made up his mind to run over to the man and kick him in the head for molesting his dead child when the man's last push upon her slender chest caused her body to arc forward to the sky and her breath to sputter between her lips.

The effect this had on the crowd was immediate. The girl had been still, obviously not breathing just moments before and somehow the strange actions of the man had stirred life back into her body. There was a hushed silence and the crowd along with Nathan stood impossibly still for a moment. There was then the staccato sound of a single pair of hands clapping together, it echoed in the long street and bounced off the facades of the many row houses. Soon, however, another pair of hands joined in, and then even more joined it. As Nathan ran to his daughter the clapping had turned into thunderous applause.

"Papa?" whispered little Aida as Nathan threw his arms around her. It was to him, the sweetest sound that he ever thought he would hear.

There were questions that followed, many questions, and North had generously agreed to put the now homeless family up at a residence he owned. At first Nathan had been reluctant to agree but Emma had insisted she take up the offer, especially after she had heard Francis's story. It seemed that armed men had broken into their home and locked the nanny with the three children into one of the upper rooms. Francis had assumed they were robbers at first and had pleaded with them not to harm the children. She had thought them safe, locked in the room, but then terror gripped her as she smelled the first tendrils of smoke creeping under the door.

It seemed that North had arrived just minutes later, calling out to find if anyone was home. Francis had wailed on the thick door of the room and called out desperately for help. The man had heard the cries and quickly came to the aide of her and the children by breaking down the door to the room they were captive in. At this point the fire had spread dramatically, the wooden frame and combustible décor were like kindling for the hungry flames and there seemed to be no point of egress from the building. Francis was ready to throw the children from the third story window at that point, hoping desperately that they would live, but North stopped her and assured her that they would all make it out alive.

He looked around at the surroundings and quickly took action. There was a dumbwaiter in the far wall of the hallway that led to the stone kitchen on the first floor and he attacked the opening with his bare hands and legs, widening it enough to allow him to enter. He climbed in and shimmied down the tight shaft, kicking out part of the plaster wall on the bottom floor. He found that the stonework had kept most of the room intact and he quickly called up for Francis to drop the children down to him. He caught them all in turn and eventually Francis her self. Aida, it seemed, had inhaled too much smoke for her tiny lungs to handle and had passed out at this point and North was frantic. He doused his coat with water from the kitchen and wrapped Aida in it and then led to charge to the front door, kicking burning furniture and timbers out of his way. When the façade of the building had given away it had jammed the door closed and Francis couldn't open it. Without hesitation or warning he had launched his leg at it, sending it free from the building wall. This was when he made his appearance before Nathan.

The story seemed solid and Francis added as much information as she could. Nathan was still suspicious, but the man seemed to have the utmost confidence of the nanny and his wife. In fact, Emma wouldn't even listen to him cast any suspicion on North's motive at all. Whenever he had tried to suggest to her that North had any involvement in the fire she would turn her face from him and pretend not to listen. As far as Emma was concerned, he was the man that had saved the lives of their children and that was good enough for her.

It wasn't really good enough for Nathan, he needed to know more about this man and the fire and how it had come about, but he was inclined at least to listen this time. Even if the man had been responsible for the fire, it was obvious that he had risked his life to make sure that his family had come to safety and if it was a ruse then he had dared a lot just to gain Nathan's confidence.

They sat down together that night in private and "North' had begun to tell his tale anew, but this time with more detail and taking his time to sprinkle facts and information that made Nathan's mind reel. It was the information that Nathan had wanted to hear and he took careful note of how he could collaborate various parts of the man's story. There was no way he could know for _sure_ that he was a man from the future, until one of the many events he predicted had come to pass, but he could at least check out this Fiske character and see what he was up to.

Of course, things _did_ work out how this mysterious man had claimed they would and Fiske was definitely as dangerous of a character as he was made out to be. It was one of the reasons why Nathan was here, in his stronghold, trying to thwart his latest plan. Nathan heard a sound down the hall that broke his reverie and he tried to make his silhouette small against the dark wall. He brought his saber up to bear, it wouldn't do him much good against a rifle, but in these close quarters it was lethal and most importantly – silent. Silence and stealth were the keystones of the part he and the raven-haired demoness were to play in tonight's plans.

The sounds slowly became louder, they were men talking in hushed tones softer than their footfalls. Nathan was no expert but he could tell that they were to soon come upon his hiding spot and his knuckles whitened on the pommel of his weapon as he prepared himself for the conflict. He saw the face of the first man appear around the corner, the moonlight illuminated it oddly and made him appear to be almost ghostly an inhuman. His mouth opened as if he was to say something and then fell silent as the shadows around him erupted.

She was good, in fact Nathan had probably never seen a deadlier fighter in his life other than Ron. This made sense to him in a way, because if they _were_ nemesis' from the future then likely they would each be skilled enough to face off against each other. Of course, the way the woman looked at Ron he wondered if she at least considered the two of them to be enemies. He had wanted to ask his friend what _exactly_ was going on but had not been able to get a word in to him on that point in private the entire night. It bothered Nathan immensely; he liked neat facts, not sketchy postulation. Still, he knew better than to inquire of his partner for the night her exact relationship with the man – likely it was yet another of the myriad cloaked plots of Ron's – or North as he called his calculating alter ego.

Nathan left his hiding place and moved up the hall to join Shego. He noted grimly as he passed the bodies of the two men laying on the ground that one of them would probably live, but the other was most likely choking to death with a crushed throat. Nathan didn't like killing, it went against his own personal code of ethics, but still he had at least seriously injured four men tonight if not killed them. He didn't want to think about it too much; there was a high degree of probability that he would have to strike down more men tonight. His only consolation was that if he was successful then Fiske would be dead and his family would be safe and there was very little that Nathan Possible wouldn't do to ensure that outcome.

"This way Possible…" the woman whispered in a forced tone.

Nathan followed her to a staircase in the back of the hall that lead up to gallery that overlooked the main hall. That was Fiske's location and their goal was to lay in wait in the shadows there for the rest of their strike force to arrive. Ron had gone over the plan in detail during the long wait from afternoon to dusk. It was more or less the same plan that he had first proposed, except there had been a couple of modifications.

The one change, the one that concerned Nathan the most, was the addition of "Bella" as his partner. Mostly he was relieved, because originally his sister Molly was to be here and as much as he respected her fierce independence, part of him really didn't feel like it was right for a Possible woman to be running around fighting villains. Certainly if their mother was still alive she would have greatly disapproved of the entire concept.

Nathan's part was in a canvas bag slung over his shoulder. It was a device that he had constructed from plans that Ron, under the guise of North, had presented him with months ago. He wasn't sure exactly what it did but Ron was insistent that it was necessary to prevent Fiske's plan to travel into the future.

A crash of thunder was followed briefly by a flash of lightning that stole away the comforting darkness of the hall they were creeping through. The woman stopped and crouched, probably by instinct, and then seeming to feel that no one had spotted them, she began to move again towards a large door that overlooked the gallery.

"Wait, I need to set this up…" Nathan whispered.

"Huh? That device? I thought you were going to use it from the balcony…" Shego was looking around nervously, they were terribly exposed in this hallway even if it _was_ dark.

"Yes, but I need to power it with this…" Nathan held out a long metal rod he had strapped to his back.

Shego blinked for a second and then there was another crash of thunder. The sound seemed to jog her brain and it dawned on her what the strange inventor meant.

"Isn't that… kind of dangerous?" she asked.

Nathan moved to the outer wall of the hall and began to open one of the windows that were set in the stone wall.

"Only a lot," he smirked. It was one of Ron's favorite sayings and as he predicted it made the woman snicker a little bit.

Nathan leaned out of the window and tried to fetch some moorings from his pockets. The device required electricity to work and the most readily and largest available source of that power was the natural kind that was generated by lightning. The long metal rod that he had brought with them was supposed to attract a lightning strike, allowing the lightning to travel across the metal cable he had created and to the device. It was incredibly dangerous because Nathan couldn't predict exactly _when_ the lightning would strike and if it did so while he was still laying out his line, then there was a good chance that he would either die on the spot or be gravely wounded.

He attached a cable to the rod that he had affixed to the window and then started to splay it out across the hall. He felt the cable roughly through his heavy gloves and he wondered if they were heavy enough to protect him – he thought they probably weren't. Shego had opened the door they were supposed to hide in and was crouched low out of sight. Nathan himself was hunching over as he finished laying the last of the cable and then they both entered through the door and closed it behind them.

"Look… there's Fiske," Shego muttered as she gestured a hand towards the gallery below.

Nathan finished hooking the cable to the device he had unpacked and then stepped back into the shadow to observe. Fiske was there, but he wasn't alone. A dozen or so men all armed with large rifles were spread out across the room guarding all the entrances. It probably hadn't occurred to Fiske that anyone would sneak around to attack him from above, but that was probably due to Ousby and McLeish. The two men had been given a task that had been imminently suited for their talents – making a huge noise. Even now Nathan could hear the gunshots ringing out from the fierce firefight that was taking place in the mansion courtyard. He said a silent prayer for the buffoonish Ousby and the dour McLeish.

Shego removed the bundled object that she had been carrying on her back and placed it on the floor. She tried to be very quiet as she unwrapped it to reveal a very long barreled rifle of a design that Nathan had never seen before. He arched his eyebrows at her.

"One of Tim's inventions," she explained as she hefted the weight of the gun across her shoulder.

Shego looked again over the railing and cursed under her breath.

"Explain to me again why I don't just shoot him now?" she whispered.

Nathan rolled his eyes. This had to be the twelfth time they've had this conversation.

"The idol. We need to stop Fiske but we also need the idol. And no, before you ask again – I don't know why. Tim has said it was very important, but he wouldn't elaborate."

Shego obviously didn't like that answer and she muttered something very un-lady like that caused Nathan to blush.

"If you trust Tim, you'll just have to wait," Nathan wondered what her response to that would be and he studied her face.

She just nodded and then closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

"_I hope you know what you're doing Ron, she could blow this whole thing up in our faces…_"

-

Saito gave Ron a sign with his hand and then slipped into the shadows. The two ninja's had taken a less likely route into the mansion, slipping over a long wall and then scaling the side of the four story building in the rain. Of course, it was child's play for them and the hardest part still remained ahead.

Ron was comforted a tiny bit in the thought that no matter what happened that Saito would be coming out of this alive. The stealthy ninja was a survivor like him and even after the end of tonight's event he would be returning back to that little house. This time however, Molly would be there and Ron hoped that there would be time for their budding romance to blossom before the next time retraction. Even that was up in the air right now, things had changed so much in the last month that Ron felt like a blind man floundering around in the dark.

"_Or a normal man experiencing the present for the first time…_"

He didn't like to admit it, but he had grown very comfortable with the fact that he had known almost everything that was about to occur in this time period. It had given him a supreme amount of confidence and comfort to know that only him and God knew what was about to happen next. Not that Ron would have been so audacious to compare himself in that way, but it was more or less the truth.

Ron took his pack off his back with a slow deliberate movement. His shoulder still bothered him and it while he had needed both of his arms in the climb to the roof he was busily now tying it back up into a sling. He could fight with it, not very well probably, but it would get him by in a pinch and besides from that he still had the Lotus Blade with him to fall back on even if his kung-fu wasn't at it's prime.

From inside the pack Ron removed a thin wrap of cord, a very thick stock of paper and a waterproof tarp. They were all the tools he had brought for his infiltration. He stepped across the roof and to the skylight that was positioned in the roof. He made his profile small as he looked down through the glass. It was difficult to see inside because the light rainfall had beaded upon it's surface. He waited a little bit, then counted to twenty and then looked again.

Sure enough, there was the patrol that always roamed the top floor. Ron was glad that at least _this_ part of the present was as he had remembered it. He waited for the two men to disappear in the darkness and then began to set about his break-in. First was the thick paper, it was coated on the inner side with a gluey sticky substance that Ron had protected from the rain. He placed the paper on a panel of the skylight and smoothed it into place with his hand, making sure there was as much contact with the glass as possible.

He then looked to his left and found the hook he was looking for, around that he tied one end of the cord he had brought and started to unroll it – there was a thirty foot drop from the skylight to the atrium floor and Ron didn't want to risk jumping it. Finally with these preparations in place he unsheathed the Lotus Blade from across his shoulder and then swung it, pommel down, towards the paper coated glass. There was a solid "thunk" sound most of the glass shattered, but didn't scatter. He then peeled up the edge of the tar paper, removing with it a large portion of the glass that he had just broken.

"_Good enough for an entrance_."

He placed the paper to the side and then grabbed the tarp; he was going to carry it over himself to block the rain from falling into the hole he had just made. It wouldn't last for long, but it would at least keep the rain from falling directly onto some ones head and then alerting the entire building to his presence up here. Gingerly he crept into the hole he had made, clinging to the rope and making sure that he didn't snag anything on the few pieces of broken glass that stubbornly clung to the side of the broken window.

The rest of the process went smoothly and as he reached the floor he noted with satisfaction that the tarp he had covered his entry point with was keeping the rain out for the time being. He then grabbed one end of his cord, brought it taught, and started to rub it against a piece of broken glass in the window frame. It took a few seconds, but ultimately he cut through the cord at the top and gathered it up from the floor after it fell. It wouldn't do to leave a rope to the ceiling in plain sight.

Ron moved backwards into the shadows and then closed his eyes and began to count.

"_35… 36… rounding the corner… 38… 39… twenty feet out… 40… 41… GO!_"

The two men that had just done a backtrack on their patrol were not prepared for fist and foot that met their faces as Ron leapt from his hiding place. He used his good arm to drag both men behind some potted plants at the far end of the atrium and then mentally calculated that he had approximately twenty minutes before the two were supposed to check in with the floor below. It was plenty of time for him to make his way down to his next stop.

As Ron traveled down the darkened corridors of the emanse his mind drifted to the changes he had made in tonight's plan. He had an advantage that normal men didn't have when contemplating his actions – he had literally lived this night many times before. Always he focused on one thing, and one thing only – killing Fiske. At first the thought of killing _anyone_, even a diabolical villain, made his stomach turn, but lifetimes of fighting Fiske and his various corruptions and perversions had dulled him mostly to the act. He had come to believe that just like the march of Time, some thing were an inevitability and when faced with the alternatives, killing a man could be considered a small thing. Death had long ago lost its terror to Ron Stoppable. He had faced his own death and the death's of people he loved many times and he had a mountain of grief in his heart that was enough for twenty normal men. It was in this frame of mind that he had concocted his _own_ final solution for tonight, the solution that would bring about the end of his entrapment in time and finally put his endless battle with Fiske to a rest.

He was going to kill himself and Shego was going to help him.

At first it was a silly idea. He reminded himself that no matter what he did, he would always wake up in that faraway shrine in China with the Monkey King leering at him, a macabre grin affixed to it's simian maw. There seemed to be no way out of this foregone destiny and as such he had come to accept it as an immutable fact. But really, was this the case? Or was it just that he had been doing the wrong things, following the wrong path, fixating on the wrong result? These thoughts carried a heavy presence in his mind these days.

Stopping Fiske was obviously not enough. Killing him had also proven to be futile. The key, the one thing that Ron had not yet been able to do, taunted him in his dreams. It taunted him with a leering grin that peered at him through the veil of his slumber. It mocked him with a grin that he found eerily familiar. The grin of a monkey.

The Tempest Simia was an artifact of unknown origin. Ron had tried many times to uncover any sort of facts that would help him uncover it's shrouded history but had been rebuffed at all turns. It seemed that the mysterious idol coveted its secrets with a greedy ferocity and try as he might it would not bend to his will. Eventually he turned his efforts from directly trying to delve into the secrets of the idol and instead attempted to only discern what _Fiske_ had learned. It had cost him a great deal of money and the lives of more than a few of his agents, but what he had discovered greatly intrigued him.

Fiske's plan, or so it seemed, was something only a madman would conceive. The Tempest Simia had the ability to send the user hurtling through time and space to a location of his choosing. It did this by sensing the desire of the person who held it, reading their mind in essence, and then acting upon those thoughts. Ron had, after much travail, finally managed to discern what Fiske's intentions were and it perfectly fit the man's madness. Fiske apparently believed that it would be possible for him to use the idol to transport him not just to one time in the future, but to _all_ times that ever would be.

The complexity of the situation boggled Ron's mind. How would one exist simultaneously in all places in time? What would life look like to that person? Would it drive them mad? Would their perceptions be altered in order to comprehend what they were experiencing? There were so many questions and no answers. The entire sitch was so bizarre that Ron wasn't even sure if Wade would be able to wrap his super genius intellect around it. There was one thing however that Ron was fairly certain of it – Fiske's plan was doomed to failure from the start. He didn't know how, and he didn't understand why, but Fiske's attempted manipulation of the time stream with the idol absolutely _must_ be the reason for the time loop and Ron needed to prevent him carrying out his ill-fated plan.

The secret to how this was going to be accomplished came unwittingly from Fiske himself. It was a line of investigation that had cost the lives of several men, but had uncovered a secret Paris workshop and plans for a device that Fiske had discarded as too dangerous to use. Originally Fiske had been worried that the Tempest Simia would need more power to carry out his plan than it could draw from it's own mystical reservoirs so he had experimented with various ways of amplifying the power of the idol. Eventually he stumbled upon an esoteric inventor from Russia who had been experimenting with electricity and Fiske had funded the man with his fortune in hopes that he could come up with a solution for a problem that he had thought existed.

The inventor was a crackpot mostly, but he did possess a small kernel of true genius and it was almost by a quirk of fate that he stumbled upon a process to infuse the natural power of lightning into the idol. The original tests that he had performed for Fiske were promising, the idol responded well to the new energy, but there were problems that were unforeseen. It seemed that the idol's affinity for the energy was strong, so strong in fact that it would greedily suck up every drop it could find. This caused a chain reaction that made the idol's thirst for power go out of control. Several of Fiske's men had lost their lives during one of the tests when the glowing idol had begun to react violently, draining the very life from their bodies and Fisk him self was only spared because he had ran as soon as the first man hit the floor.

Ron hoped this information was accurate. He was counting on it actually, hoping that there would be enough time for him to warn Nathan and Shego to flee once they had done their part in the plan. He didn't want his friends to die, especially if he was correct and his actions would prevent the formation of the time loop. If that were the case then they would at least be able to continue living their lives even if Ron's own ended.

His thought turned to the raven-haired beauty that he had fallen in love with. It hurt his heart when he thought about the things that he had done to her and he was almost grateful that after tonight he wouldn't have to look into those huge green eyes and see the love in there that he felt he had not earned. He had left a note for her in his study, hidden under a pile of papers that lay on top of his desk. Surely once it was confirmed that he was deceased his solicitor would start to go through his personal effects and find it. The name, "Bellatrix North" was written across it in his hawkish script and inside were two letters. The first one was a personal one to Shego that explained everything to her – the truth of the time loop, the lives he had lived, and how he had come to fall in love with her against his own better judgment. The second letter was shorter, but more formal. It named Shego as the sole inheritor of what remained of his financial fortune and passed ownership of the Richmond estate to her name. It was something that Ron had Fornsby draw up weeks before, when he felt that his time was finally running out. Ron knew that it wouldn't make up for what he had done to her, but he had to do it anyway. It was a selfish thought on his part, a way for him to assuage his own guilty conscience – if Shego at least was taken care of for the rest of her life, then Ron felt that he would be able to die peacefully without worry for her.

He wished against hope that he would find some way at the last moment to topple his destiny to the ground. It was a strange thought to him that after all these lives, after all these deaths, that love had found a way to grip his heart tighter than fear ever had. No, he wasn't afraid of dying. In fact, he almost welcomed the chance to take a rest, to no longer have to carry the burdens of the world on his shoulders. They were heavy and they dragged him down with the weight of iron around his soul. Still, he wanted to hold on, at least for a little bit. He wanted to hold on so that he could hold _her_, just a while longer - live with her just a day more, kiss her just one more time, love her a final time.

All these thoughts eddied in his heart as he strode forward towards his fate. Destiny was cruel, Ron realized this now, but he held out hope for something better. It didn't matter much to him that it wasn't for himself, but so long as he could know that she would be all right, he was happy. He had done a lot of rotten things in his lives and he knew that even if what he was trying to accomplish was a noble goal, he had gone about it the wrong way. He seemed to have had little choice in the matter and while it was true, it didn't lessen the burden that he carried. He knew, without a doubt, that he would do it all again and willingly so.

After all, someone had to save the world, even if it was that buffoon Ron Stoppable.

-

A/N: Well here we go, Chapter 12 is in the can. I am leaving the big bang up for the next chapter instead of going into it now because then it'll be far too long between updates for my tastes. I wish I was updating every day like I was there for a while, but with everything going on in my life right now it's just too hard to keep it up!

I hope people enjoyed the insight into Nathan, one of Kim's ancestors and his life with Ron. I wanted to flesh him out a little bit more, if for no other reason than it seemed interesting to me to contrast the future and past relationship between Ron and Possible clan. I wanted to provide in my story a sense of _fate_ in their relationship and I thought it was clever to show how Kim's friendship with Ron was probably the most important thing she had ever done in her life because of the implications that relationship had in the past (or her future as it may be, or even present if you want to wrap your head around it).

Anyway, next chapter will contain the showdown between Ron and Monkey Fist, a special appearance by everyone's favorite naked mole rat and as I'm sure everyone is expecting – a ton of Shego-drama!

Once again thank you for reading and reviewing my stories!

QC


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Sacrifices

Shego sat as still as she possibly could in the darkened balcony fighting against the shivers that tried to wrack her body. The sweat from her physical exertions still clung to her under the flimsy material of her silk-gi and it chilled her chest as the rain laden night air crept over her. For physical activities and martial arts the uniform that she had been given was a vast improvement over the other options that were available, but still it wasn't optimal for performing in the chill conditions of a London night and she was wishing that she had decided to wear clothing underneath it.

Her eye crept over the edge of the balcony while she rubbed the tips of her fingers, trying to ooze warmth back into them. Below the sight hadn't changed much in the last few minutes. Fiske was still sitting impassively at an over sized chair that would have generously been described as a throne and his lieutenants were arrayed around him in defensive positions. Shego knew that if she wanted to, she could bring the rifle Tim had given her to bear and take Fiske out in between the span of a heartbeat – however Nathan was firmly set against that plan.

"_What's so important about that idol? All we need to do is take out Fiske, then he won't be able to use it and we can pick it up at our leisure. There's something that I'm missing, something that Tim said that I didn't pick up on… He can be just as frustrating as Drakken sometimes. No, worse – he's like a million times smarter than Drakken._"

Shego never considered herself dumb, or even of average intelligence. She knew that she was smart, but also she knew that she was unmotivated. It was probably a part of her personality cultivated throughout years of trying to avoid any sort of tangible responsibility – just follow along and do _whatever_. It was a pretty bad life and had made her miserable both when she was with her brothers and when she was with Drakken. Her relationship with Tim however felt different. She had initiated it, she had pursued it in her own way and she could tell that he valued her. It wasn't that he said as much to her, it was more the way that he had let her into his life and brought her to his side. She wondered if she would always be by his side. She hoped that was true.

She leaned back down out of sight and closed her own eyes for a minute. She marveled at how she had gone from firebrand to timid ingénue over the period of the last few months and now how it seemed that she was starting to come full circle. She wanted really badly to give Fiske a part in his hair starting at between his eyes and then to grab her boyfriend and drag him off to their warm bed. It was an image that brought a smile to her face. She knew that Tim would be unhappy about the first part of her fantasy plan, but she also felt confident that he wouldn't complain about the second part. He had been an excellent lover for her – letting her go at her own pace and letting her lead when she needed to and right now she was feeling to urge to do some _serious_ leading.

"_Great, I'm hiding out in a balcony with a sniper rifle and getting excited. I'm so twisted._"

There wasn't much she could do about it; Tim just had that effect on her. She marveled at how this relationship was so different than anything she had known before and how much her heart was completely captivated by the man. It was a strange mixture of helplessness and devotion that she had never thought she would experience, but now that she had, she found it slightly addicting. He had a hold on her that she wondered if she would ever shake. She wondered if she even _wanted_ to shake it. She suspected the answer was probably somewhere between "no" and "definitely not" and it made a different kind of shiver run up her spine, sweetly different than the ones brought upon by the damn air.

The gunfire from outside had died down and Nathan nudged her with his foot. She strained her ears to try and hear what Fiske was saying to a lanky man in a black coat but couldn't make out the words. The results however were immediate and the man in the black coat strode out of the room followed by half a dozen other men. Shego wondered if that meant that Ousby and McLeish had finally gained entrance to the house, or if Fiske had sent his lieutenant to identify their bodies. She had only known the men for a short time, but she knew that they considered her Tim to be a close friend and while she wasn't religious at all, she hoped to God that they had survived their attempted distraction.

The door closed and everything was silent for a long minute. Something inside Shego sent a flow of adrenaline through her body and she was instantly awake. It was a familiar feeling, one that seemed to be borne from a second sense that was possessed by all people that made their lives out of violence and she knew that it meant that some sort of action was about to take place. She brought her rifle to bear on the men below and was rewarded almost instantly with the spectacle of an entrance she had would never have guessed at.

She didn't see exactly _where_ they had come from, but her eyes quickly focused on the dozen or so small objects that were floating through the air. They were tiny things, perhaps the size of horse chestnuts and to her they appeared to float in slow motion as they spread out across the middle of the room where Fiske and his remaining men were standing. Then suddenly, time sped up and the nature of the objects was revealed as they started exploding in mid air and on the floor. The sound made it obvious that they were not packed with serious explosives and thus not intended to cause injury and the reason why was immediately apparent as a thick cloud of grayish blue smoke materialized in the place where the bombs had been.

Shego cursed under her breath and tried to catch a glimpse of any of the men through the thick smoke. She wanted to take a shot, any shot, at the men below but the smoke completely obscured her vision and she was afraid that she might injure Tim or Saito if they were down there. She thought that the entrance was something one might expect from a ninja so it made sense that Saito who had gone earlier with Tim would have led the charge into the room. She scanned around with her eyes and couldn't find Tim – if he was hiding in the corners of the room then he was doing a good job of it.

Nathan was struggling with the device that he had brought, his thick gloves giving him an awkward fumble with his hands that made him look almost comical as he tried to balance his invention on the balcony railing. Shego resisted the urge to assist him – she needed to keep her own gun trained on the crowd below incase an opportunity presented itself. Her eyes drifted back from Nathan to the cloud below. Shouts were coming from inside now and her eyes went wide as she saw the form of one of Fiske's men fly out of the smoke at a startling velocity, tumbling senseless to the floor. She idly wondered what kind of force would be required to send a 200 pound man fifteen feet through the air and admitted that even with her powers that would have been a prodigious feat.

Fiske was the first one to leave the cloud on his own accord. It was what Shego had been expecting, certainly he would be the first one to regain his senses and realize what was going on. She was prepared and her gun was instantly trained on him as he scrabbled, simian style, away from the smoke. He reminded Shego of the gait of a giant silverback gorilla as he fled to a more advantageous position.

The cloud was beginning to thin now and Shego could make out the shapes of men hunched over and coughing as well as a deadly lithe form that was in the middle of them, striking out with trained precision.

"_That must be Saito… where's Tim?_"

Against her own will, Shego was panicking because she couldn't find her lover. She knew that Tim could take care of himself, but he was injured and while he had healed surprisingly quickly, a bad blow to his shoulder or a wrong step could make him fumble enough that someone could take his life. It was a scenario that had been on her mind all night and what made it so terrible for her was that she knew from her current position there was very little she could do to protect the man that meant so much to her.

The cloud had all but dissipated now and Shego could see the ninja below locked in heated combat with Fiske's men. He dodged and weaved like he was anticipating every strike that was coming his way. One of the men in the back of the room had raised his rifle and heedless of the fact that his comrades were in the way was preparing to take a shot at the shrouded figure. Shego moved the sight of her gun, held her breath and slowly squeezed down on the trigger. The report of the gun was loud, much louder than she would have liked and it instantly drew attention to her position, something that she would have liked to avoid for a while longer. However her shot had been true and the man that had raised his rifle spun away lifeless to the floor.

"Shego!" shouted Fiske. He had instantly recognized the figure in the balcony when the gunshot had alerted his attention to her. His eyes were wide and his mouth was turned into a snarl.

Shego brought her rifle back to bear on Fiske but he flipped away, taking cover behind a long table stacked high with books and papers. Shego took a shot at him as he flipped. She wasn't supposed to kill Fiske, at least not until Tim or Saito retrieved the idol, but Fiske didn't know that and she hoped that a few wild shots his way might keep him pinned down long enough to keep him from attacking Saito who was busily working his way through Fiske's men.

From his concealed position Fiske took stock of the battle. He was pinned down and the masked man was ripping through his men like whirlwind. To top it all off he had sent Cager and some of his elite guards out to investigate the firefight in the courtyard and they hadn't returned yet. He wondered if they ever would return, or if by the time they had if it would be too late for him. This wasn't how things were supposed to go, he was supposed to be the one to attack first. He had been so close to sending his agents out to North's estate to end him and hopefully Shego when it seemed that his prey had become the hunter.

As improbably as it sounded, Stoppable and Shego must have made an alliance against him in this time. Nothing else could explain her presence in the balcony above him. He wondered where Stoppable was him self, perhaps he was too injured to partake in tonight's raid, or perhaps he was lying in wait for Fiske to try and flee. Or maybe even…

He looked at the masked ninja that was making short work of his men. The man flailed about wildly, his hands not in fists, but in claws. His fingers bent forward and locked stiff like they could shred apart any flesh that they came into contact with. A dizzying leap, a sudden strike to a throat, a violent and reckless charge through two armed men. It started to dawn on Fiske exactly _where_ Ron Stoppable was as he observed the masked man execute a dizzying Wooden Monkey kata to one of his men.

Ron was perspiring heavily under his mask. It wasn't so much the physical exertion but the pain in his arm as he fought that caused the sweat to break out on his brow. It hurt like hell and occasionally the pain would wash over him so severely he would stumble a little bit in his footwork. He knew that facing off against Fiske by himself was going to be dangerous in his current state but there was little choice. He needed to be present when Fiske tried to use the Time Monkey – it was the only chance he could see to avoid repeating the same fate over and over again for eternity. A man swung out at him with the butt of a rifle and Ron ducked under it, letting it sail over his head into another man's face. He thrashed out with his legs, sweeping the attacker to the ground and then contorted his body and clawed at another man that was coming in from his off side.

The Wooden Monkey form of Tai Shing Pek Kwar was not a form that Ron used often, or even willingly. It was dangerous and lethal, but not only to your enemies but to the practitioner as well. There were no defenses in the form, no blocking, little dodging; it was an all attack style where the master imitated the actions of a furious monkey trying to rend his enemies to shreds. Under the best of circumstances Ron would have already defeated the men that were around him, but with his arm injured he was running a desperate race to see if they would drop before he dropped himself from the pain.

"_Cager isn't coming, he would have been alerted by the gunshots. Saito must either be taking care of him, or taken him out already._"

It was another part of Ron's plan that he had changed at the last moment. Normally Saito would have accompanied him in leading the charge into Fiske's sanctum, but this time Ron had left him strict instructions to take out Cager and then to retreat with Ousby and McLeish. As Ron's arm throbbed and his vision blurred he was regretting his orders somewhat, but he hoped that at least he had prevented the death of McLeish at Cager's hands. He had seen far too much death as Tim North and he wasn't prepared to give up his own life with the murder of his friends on his conscience.

Over half of the men he had been fighting were on the ground or out of the fight. A thunder crack pealed in the distance and it spurred Ron on. He was running out of time in a most literal sense. He knew from the past that this residence of Fiske's would nearly burn down on this night. It seemed that an errant lightning strike on the north façade of the building would ignite the building and only the pouring rain and a little bit of luck would keep it from burning down to the ground completely. When his spies had first reported this information to him, he had filed it away in his brain for later consideration – just another fact in a long list of facts that he had absorbed over his many lifetimes. However he was hoping that this seemingly useless fact would figure prominently in his plans for the evening.

A fist whistled by his head and Ron was almost a fraction too late to avoid it. His attacks were starting to falter and the men were able to now carefully get by his strikes and kicks. If things kept up like this, then he wouldn't be able to complete his plan. He bent down low and reached over his back, wrapping the hand of his good arm around the hilt of the Lotus Blade and with one swift motion he unsheathed it, whipping it over his head and neatly slicing apart an advancing man.

The remaining men halted for a moment, taking in the new variable to the battle. The lifeless and bleeding body of their compatriot on the floor was giving them pause as to how to continue and it was enough hesitation for Ron to press his advantage. He pivoted on his feet, bringing the Lotus Blade across him in a wide forward slash that sent another man lifeless to the floor, his blood spraying into the air. The violence of it was so great that the two of the men broke and tried to run only to make it within feet of the door before they were brought down by well-placed gunshots to their backs.

Ron spun his head around and checked on the balcony for a moment. Shego was there, her rifle at the ready and Nathan was next to her huddling below the edge of the balcony. The device seemed to be in place; Nathan had clamped it to a stationary position that aimed it at near the center of the floor of the large room below. Ron took note of this, he had to make sure that when the lightning came he was standing in that spot with the idol or his plan would fall apart. However, for him to even get that far he needed to make sure that he at least was in possession of the Tempest Simia, which meant he needed to get it from Fiske…

Montgomery Fiske recognized the sword instantly. It was the Lotus Blade and he cursed under his breath. It seemed that even in _this_ time the sword would only belong to his accursed enemy. It was almost as if the ancient weapon was mocking him, taunting him with the fact that no matter what he did, no matter where he was, it would show up to bring ruin upon his plans.

"_No, not this time. This time I wont fail, this time I won't be stopped, no matter what!_"

It was sooner than he had planned to use it, much sooner than he would have liked. There were still so many individual parts of his plan that he hadn't solved yet and he was unsure if he would ever be able to do so. The manipulation of the time stream that Fiske wanted to perform was so complex and it's reach so vast that one would have to have a mind like a super computer to even come close to comprehending it completely. He knew it was risky, but he also knew that the outcome from attempting now and attempting in another twenty years was likely to be similar. He had one chance and just this once chance to alter his destiny and claim the place that he had long coveted for himself.

Backing up slightly, Fiske huddled under the edge of the long table that was providing him cover from Shego's gunfire. He reached into the deep pockets of his coat and produced the two separate pieces of the Tempest Simia, the ape like body and the grinning monkey head. His simian like paw closed over the head of the idol and began to place it upon the body – the first step to activating the mystical time energies it contained. All he needed to do now was concentrate deeply and visualize his plan in his head and then twist the head ever so slightly…

The motion of his wrist was almost in action when the body of one of his subordinates crashed through the table and slammed into his chest. He was stunned and the force of the impact caused him to lose his grip on the idol, sending it crashing to the floor. He was just about to retrieve it when his combat instincts took over and he blocked a high kick to his face – without looking he knew it was Stoppable.

"Stoppable!" he hissed under his breath as he swung one of his massive arms out towards the wounded man. Fiske was wary of the gun from the balcony, but he hoped that so long as he kept Ron's body between him and Shego she would be reluctant to shoot – or that at least her aim would take out one of his problems. If he could then close the distance to the door he would have the respite he needed to activate his plan… or he could go after Shego where her long gun wouldn't do her any good. He had battled her once already and found that she wasn't nearly as good as she had once been and he was confident he could break her in two with his powerful simian strength.

Ron side stepped the blow and then launched one of his own, bringing the Lotus Blade to bear on Fiske. He knew it wouldn't hit the Monkey Master, but it was more of a distraction for his real goal. Pivoting on his legs, he knelt down low and swept his right leg out in front of him, forcing Fiske to back flip away and giving him time plant the Lotus Blade in the floor and snatch the idol up into his good arm. It looked like he was close to victory, but nothing could be further from the truth. His other arm was now hanging numbly from his side and the one arm he had that could still attack was holding the ancient idol – to top it all off the pain he was experiencing was intense and it took a significant amount of his mental energy just to keep from swimming forward into the blackness that threatened to engulf his consciousness.

Monkey Fist was quick to realize that Ron had retrieved the idol from him and panic welled up in his eyes. He needed that idol, it was the key to all his future plans and he wasn't about to let it slip from his grasp when they were so close to fruition. He clawed out at Ron with devastating overhand strikes that mimicked Ron's own Wooden Monkey form, however his stance was more like Tall Monkey – hovering over Ron's body as he was forced to lose ground, falling backwards just barely in time to avoid the attacks that were coming at him.

If Fiske had been a little less afraid and a bit more observant he would have noticed almost immediately what Ron was trying to do. Shego understood as soon as she saw the feinting motions from the black clad ninja – Fiske was being led, slowly but surely, towards the middle of the room. She tried to comprehend what the point was – he had the idol in his hand and she could probably dispatch Fiske with a single shot, but still the signal hadn't been given. There was something else going on, something that she hadn't thought of before… Her eyes crawled across the balcony railing towards the strange device Nathan had been hauling around all night and the gears in her mind started to turn.

Nathan had been pretty closed lipped about what the purpose of the device was and he had brushed off almost all of her inquiries into the matter, however Shego had assumed that it was some sort of "secret weapon" to be used against Fiske, should the situation require it. Obviously this wasn't the case because it had not been activated at all yet and she wondered dubiously if it ever _could_ be activated – Nathan had been sitting away from it for several minutes now and he didn't look too keen on getting any closer. The only thing she could come up with was that the strange device still had some purpose left to fill and she would have to wait and see what it was.

"Give it back to me!" Fiske bellowed at the top of his lungs as he lurched forward with a hairy paw towards Ron. He was incensed and his normally lethal moves were falling off the mark as he interspersed his attacks with desperate grabs for the idol in Ron's hand. It was only because of this that Ron was able to remain upright, as it was he was precariously close to folding over on himself in pain and his feet were starting to slow. He was contemplating giving the signal to Shego for her to take the shot, but he was afraid of what the consequences might be – it was possible that if he ended Fiske's life in such a way then the time loop would not break.

Weeks ago his mind had drifted from rational solutions to the problem to a more metaphysical approach. He was hoping that where sword, knife and bullet had failed before that the life draining properties of the Tempest Simia would succeed. It made a sick sort of sense to Ron – even if his physical body died, so long as his life force and Fiske's were drawn into the idol then perhaps there was a chance that they wouldn't be reincarnated. An eternity with his soul trapped into the stone monkey statue didn't appeal to him too much, but it was slightly more preferable to an eternity of endless conflict and losing the people you love.

Thunder reverberated through the walls of the long hall and Ron noted that if he was to act, he would have to do it soon – the storm was nearly upon them. He backpedaled a dozen feet to where he had to stand for his plan and then switched his stance into a more combative one. It was a fake, a ploy on his part, to tie Fiske up and buy him the moments he needed to for the lightning to arc down from the sky and finish them both. Fiske halted his approach for a moment and then snarled at him, it was a bestial sound and one fitting of his mutated appearance. He then crouched down on all fours and Ron knew that the end game was upon him.

The attack from Fiske nearly took him from his feet, but he was able to dodge it by falling onto his side. He twisted as the Monkey Master flew overhead and he arced out his foot, catching Fiske in the gut. It wasn't a strong blow and Ron knew it was nothing more than a nuisance to Fiske, but it was all he could manage. He tried to gain his knees as Fiske loped forward towards him again but his strength had waned greatly since the beginning of the battle so he only managed to gain one leg before Fiske was reaching and clawing at him.

"STOPPABLE! GIVE IT TO ME!" Fiske screamed in frustration, spittle flying from the corners of his still human mouth.

Ron cursed under his breath. There was no way that Shego would have missed Fiske's pronouncement of his secret identity. He didn't respond, at least not verbally, but instead he channeled all of his anger and frustration into a single blow that caught Fiske in the sternum, sending him reeling onto his back. Ron turned his head to look up to the balcony and saw Shego standing there, the rifle in her grip had gone slack and the look on her face showed her confusion. Ron wondered if he could lie to her again. He wondered if he could brush off Fiske's accusation with words, perhaps claiming not to know what the madman was talking about. All of these thoughts were ones that he had many times this evening and his conscience had wrestled with them.

In the end it came down to one simple fact – he loved her. He wanted to explain himself to her, to tell her how he felt about her – how _Ron Stoppable_ felt about her. He knew it was impossible now and he also knew that he had used her right up until the end. It was something that he would never be able to forgive himself for. Still, it had made up his mind and before he entered the building tonight he had done something he hadn't done in a long time, a nod to his old self that he had hidden for so long. Something that would say one of the things he wanted to say very loudly.

He looked up at the balcony, ignoring Fiske rising to his feet and stared hard at Shego. His fingers went up to the edge of his mask and curled around the black fabric. Then with a single swift motion he revealed _his_ face to her.

The mask had tousled his already unruly blonde hair and it was ironic how remarkable it had actually made him look like himself, but the main feature that caught Shego's attention was his face. The rough whiskers he had sported, that had tickled her cheeks every time he nuzzled her, were gone. His face was smooth and she looked upon it as if she was looking at him for the first time. The name "Stoppable" was echoing in her mind and as she looked at his clean shaven countenance she started to connect the dots of a myriad amount of clues that she had observed but had ignored, probably willingly so.

"_Tim… is the sidekick?_" she thought to herself.

She looked at his face and tried to make out his deep brown eyes. She looked at his mouth and tried to imagine that charming, boyish grin. Her heart started to sink as her mind started to scream at her. The rifle she had been holding fell from her loose grip and fell end over end to the room below, landing with a loud clattering that was punctuated by the sound of thunder rocking the mansion.

"Tim!" she screamed. It wasn't a declaration so much as a question. Her voice cracked over the simple syllables and tears were coming to her eyes.

"Shego, I …" Ron's voice was cut off by a vicious strike from Fiske that sent him back down to the floor. Fiske was upon him now, both of his good hands grabbing the ancient idol from Ron's single grasp. He tried to struggle, to buy more time, but it was useless and he relinquished the object to Fiske who grinned and raised it over his head in victory.

From his back Ron caught one last look at Shego. There was so much that he wanted to say to her, so much that he wanted to tell her, but no time to do it in. He couldn't even tell her that he loved her, that much at least might have soothed his guilty conscience a little bit. As it was, if he didn't act soon, then his plan would fail and he would be doomed to repeat this life again. Doomed to suffer this heart-breaking goodbye over and over until he managed to get it right. Ron summoned the last reserves of his nearly spent strength and launched his body at Fiske, it was a clumsy attack and not one meant to cause damage. Instead he wrapped his arms around the larger man and hung on in a vice grip. Fiske had his hands over his head and brought the idol down on Ron's injured shoulder, causing a brilliant scarlet shock of pain to course through his body. The pain was so intense it almost caused him to black out. He knew that he only had one choice left to keep Fiske in place, so he took it.

He concentrated for a moment, leaving his nearly broken body behind, and reached out with his mind. The familiar link was there, the bond that had followed him through centuries and would follow him until the end of time. The blade was a mystery; it was forged long ago, wielded by many, but _meant_ for him. Always it would come to his side if he needed it. Ron had learned a long time ago that he did not bend the Lotus Blade to his will so much as it was just an _extension_ of his own. Japanese samurai had long believed that a sword was not so much a tool as a reflection of a warrior's soul and Ron knew that this was the truth – his soul and that of the noble blade were intrinsically linked in a manner that defied description and now that he needed it, it came to him.

He felt the sensation of flying from the swords perspective and it seemed for a moment that his own body was free from the pull of gravity. His eyes opened then, and he looked into Fiske's with a determination that alerted the man that something was wrong. He desperately tried to twist away from Ron, but Ron held on tight, he needed only a few more moments to complete his plan and he was going to have them, no matter what the price in pain and blood.

Fiske was the first one to feel it, although Ron could taste the echo through his connection with the Lotus Blade. The powerful flying trajectory of the blade had slowed down as soon as it met resistance; point first, into Fiske's back. That wasn't enough though for Ron and he willed the sword onward, pushing it through the mans body. There was a moment of hesitation as the blood splattered tip burst from Fiske's chest, and then Ron completed the action by steeling himself and impaling his body on his own sword.

The two men stood there in a macabre embrace, their blood mingling with each other and pouring down to slicken the floor below. Fiske was in shock now and his fingers went numb enough that his grip on the Tempus Simia was a tentative, fragile thing. There was a moment where it looked like it would crash to the floor, but then Ron felt the tingle in the back of his neck and his world went bright as the thunder rolled through the building and echoed in his mind.

-

Felix studied the strange actions of the naked mole rat as he took a sip from his Slurpster. Finding Rufus outside Ron's memorial was pretty strange, and even if Felix had wanted the little guy to be present, he would never have thought it was possible. He knew that Rufus was smart, hell he was probably the smartest pet in the world and anyone who met him often came away with the impression that "owner" wasn't quite the right word to describe Ron's relation to the tiny pink bundle of nacho destruction.

They had just arrived at Felix's work, the Middleton Space Science Center, when no sooner has he opened the door than Rufus had bolted from Felix's hoverchair and began to run around the room. Rufus was sniffing and staring at various pieces of high-tech equipment, pausing occasionally as if to ponder something, and then moving to the next strange device and starting his sniffing routine all over again. It was if somehow the naked mole rat thought he could find what he was looking for by smell alone.

"Rufus… what the heck are you up to?" asked Felix as he moved his chair towards the workstation that he normally occupied. Scattered on the desk were weeks worth of work that he needed to catch up on after his hospitalization along with various knickknacks and photographs. There were pictures of him and his family, him and Monique on the cruise that they took last year and almost prominently a picture of him and Ron as high school students clowning around as usual. Felix smiled a little bit. Even though his heart was sorrowful about the death of his friend, he couldn't help but grin when seeing his picture. Ron's own goofy smile just had that effect on people.

A loud chattering sound drew Felix's attention away from his photographs and to the source of the sound. Rufus was standing on top of an object in a secure metal case, one that had been locked away so that it could be studied more by James Possible, hopefully to determine what had exactly happened to the three people who had been wiped out of existence weeks before.

Felix's first urge was to chastise Rufus, to say something along the lines of, "_Get off that!_" It was just a reaction to the pain that he felt over what the device had done to his friend and not really anger directed at the naked mole rat. He sighed outwardly, letting the motion of his breath shake the tension from his shoulders. He looked at Rufus again and noticed that he had ceased his chattering and instead was looking intently at him.

"Rufus… What is it?" he asked.

Rufus started to hop up and down on the box. Then he scampered down the side of the metal case and began to gnaw at the metal brackets that locked it in place. He paused for a moment, looked plaintively at Felix, and then continued to wrestle with the clasps.

"_Wait… Rufus is smart. He's trying to tell me something…_"

Felix activated the control on his chair and hovered it over to Rufus. He looked down at his antics for a moment and then made up his mind about something.

"You want that open, don't you?" he asked.

Rufus stopped his struggle and looked at Felix, he nodded his head up and down and uttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Yeah!"

It went against Felix's better judgment and if anyone found out about what he was doing it would most likely cost him his job, if not worse, however he started to reach down to grab the case. He didn't know exactly what came over him, possibly it was that he wanted to believe that somehow his friend had survived the quantum disassemblement, or maybe it was a teenage life fraught with amazing events and impossible situations that captured his memory. One couldn't remain friends with Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable for very long without believing that even the strangest of things was true. In any case, he found himself doing something he would never have thought he would do.

The top of the metal container came away in Felix's hands revealing the Quantum Phase Disrupter and Rufus nearly did a back flip in excitement. Felix carefully removed the device, surprised to find that his hands were slightly shaking. After having witnessed what it had done to Ron and the two super villains, he felt like he was holding something as dangerous as an atom-bomb. He chastised himself a little bit – despite what most people believed science could be dangerous, especially if you were working with new energy sources or rocket engines, and it was far too early in his career for him to be this afraid.

"_Get a grip Renton and think about this carefully. It's not too late to back out._"

Rufus was tugging on Felix, urging him to move, but he ignored the naked mole rat. He needed to decide if this was _really_ what he wanted to do and he needed to decide if he could handle the fallout once someone read the science lab logs. It would most likely cost him his job, even with his friendship with Dr. Possible, but there was a slight chance he could play it off as grief. Or maybe he could get Wade's help to alter the security logs so that no one ever found out.

All these things of course were barring the fact that he might end up blowing himself into his smallest quantum parts.

Eventually he made a decision and moved his chair across the lab to the shielded mounting clasps that usually held the device. Rufus scampered on top of the cage and used all his strength to flip back the gleaming shield door. Felix looked at the little pink mole rat, struggling against the weight of that door and he knew without a doubt what he was trying to tell him. With hands that were still shaking he deposited the quantum disrupter into the receptacle and then both him and Rufus began attaching it to the moorings.

A few moments later, Felix was hunched down behind a metal blast shield and contemplating the remote controls for the disrupter. Rufus was huddled on his shoulder and seemed to be peering at the myriad dials and buttons along with him. Felix knew, sort of vaguely, how to start the chain reaction that would bring the device to life, but as only a lab tech, he had never initiated the sequence himself. He wiped his brow a little bit, noting that his hand came away with sweat on it, and then tried to recall from mental imagery how Dr. Possible went about activating the device. His fingers flew over the controls in a mock execution of the sequence he remembered, but something didn't feel right. He performed his "practice" again and then noted that he had skipped a step. He was about to go for another pass when Rufus pulled on his ear and started to squeak at him.

"I know, I know! I've never done this before Rufus, hold on…"

Felix closed his eyes, tried to focus through Rufus's chattering and then opened them to stare at the control board with new determination. His first movements were sure, he knew that much easily and his fingers flipped some switches and turned a dial to the correct setting. He waved for a moment and then flipped another row of switches, an act that rewarded him with a familiar humming sound that he had heard before.

"_Ok, now what… now what…_"

His hand trailed back and forth between a row of unmarked buttons. He had to press one of them, but he couldn't remember which. Just as he was about to give up and press one at random, Rufus leapt from his shoulder and landed with his little paw-feet onto a button to the left of Felix's hand. Felix was about to cuss Rufus out when the first sounds of "popping" echoed across the room.

Two sets of eyes, one human and one mole rat, peered over the metal shielding at the spectacle in front of them. The disrupter had sprung to life, the rare elements inside it having received enough of a "jump start" to take off on their own. The thing that shocked Felix however wasn't that it had actually worked (although maybe he was a little surprised at that), it was the energy that the device was glowing with. All the times he had previously seen tests performed on the quantum disrupter it had given off a familiar faint blue light that throbbed in tune with the harmonics that the device gave off. This time however it was different and he wondered what it meant.

He held his hand up and looked at the faint green glow that illuminated his skin. It reminded him of something, or more accurate of _someone_. The "popping" sound escalated and the light grew in intensity until it illuminated the entirety of the darkened laboratory. Without realizing it, Felix had begun to hold his breath as the staccato sound of quantum phase disrupter reached a frenzied crescendo.

His mind was dimly aware of the possibilities of what he was seeing, but he couldn't spare enough attention to focus on them since he was riveted to the display of energy flowing from the device. He had no idea that somehow, Rufus and him hadunlocked a door that had been sealed closed and elsewhere in space and time someone was being reunited with a part of themselves that they had thought gone forever, perhaps even, thankfully so.

-

Shego screamed a wordless scream at the sight below her. It was an animal thing, filled with sadness, frustration and rage. The twisting and leaping arc of energy that had broken loose like quicksilver from Nathan's device was still flowing freely and without even thinking of the danger it had posed, she had kicked the device free of it's clamps, sending it hurtling to the gallery below. The idol that Fiske had been holding above his head crackled with ethereal power, tiny bolts of energy sparking and flying through the bodies of the two entwined men. Shego wanted to leap down to them, to separate Tim from Fiske, to hit him, to make sure he was ok, to scream at him, to kiss him, to cradle him to her chest and to crush the life out of him.

She heard Tim, or Ron Stoppable, as she now knew, scream in agony as a black tendril of energy from the Tempus Simia rushed across his body, scoring him with charred clothing and black smoke. Her hands flew to her ears to block out the shriek, she didn't want to hear it, it tore at her heart and started to unravel the sanity that she had begun to build over the last few months. Tears were coming to her eyes and she didn't know if they were because she felt so betrayed or if because the man she loved was dying before her eyes.

This question was a terrible one for her to decide and she had no time to contemplate it. Did she love him; love him enough to forgive him? Did he love her, or was he using her all along? She wanted to believe in her body and her heart and not in her mind. Her body was telling her that he had loved her tenderly, her heart wanted to tell her that she had loved him just the same, her mind wanted to laugh at her for being such a weak fool. Conflicts in her personality and desires that she had thought she had succeeded in putting to rest suddenly came back to her with a vengeance. She needed time to think, time to question herself, time to question him…

"_Time, time, time, time, time… I have no time!_"

It was true; she could see the energy from the idol destroying both Ron and Fiske. Even if they weren't already wounded, perhaps fatally so, if she couldn't stop what was happening then there would be absolutely no chance at all for her to get the answers that she needed. Ron screamed at just that moment, a pitiful wailing thing that echoed against the vaulted ceiling of the gallery and pounded into her heart. The part of her that loved him deeply reacted strongly and she felt a tear in her soul. Instinctively her arms went out in his direction and she desperately wanted with all her heart to stop the grisly scene below her.

It happened in an instant. The first effect was the loud _thump_ her heart did, it was loud and echoed in her ears and caused her body to feel for a moment like she was weightless in free fall. Then a tingling in her body as she could distinctly tell that every cell she possessed was filled with energy followed it. Her eyes went wide and they registered what was happening before her mind did.

The green fire had returned.

It started at her hands, like normal, but it didn't stop there. It crawled down her wrists, down her arms and to her chest. She could see the flickering green flames rise from her bosom and engulf her neck, wavering in front of her eyes and within seconds her entire form was shrouded in a heatless bonfire of green tinted fire. Her energy thrummed and snapped as it cut through the air molecules around her and the scent of ozone clung heavily in her nose. This was something new, a new experience that she had never felt before, it was as if months of power had been accumulated inside her and unleashed all at the same time.

Her vision doubled and her head swam, she needed to release before she was consumed by her own power. She willed the fire into her already out stretched arms and the flames crawled reluctantly from her body to her hands, not losing their mass or intensity. The whipping tendrils of power snapped at the air and the wood of the balcony, sending pieces of railing flying into the air and splinters into her chest and face. She nearly doubled over from the pain in her hands, it was as if someone was hitting them repeatedly with a hammer and her fingers had lost all feeling. She noted absentmindedly that she had received a cut above her brow as blood trickled into her left eye. Still, she locked her gaze on that _thing_ below, that thing that was destroying the man that she wondered if she still loved. The decision was immediate and came without active thought on her part.

The emerald fire launched itself from her body, not like a bolt, but as solid wave of energy that roiled and twisted like real fire through the air. It washed over the monkey idol and engulfed it. She put everything that she had into the attack and it hung in the air for long moments. Then, just as she was about to feel herself spent and release control of the fire, a feeling of terror crept over her.

She couldn't stop it.

It wasn't that she couldn't shut it off, truthfully she _never_ could shut the power down completely. Even when she was not actively using it she still had a faint green glow that shrouded her, marking her forever as some sort of freak. But she had learned long ago how to diminish it, how to call it back into her body and let it subside back into her cosmically altered cells. When she tried this technique now however, she found that it was impossible. The power was trying to pull back, trying to recede into her, but something was pulling it out, drawing it from her like a greedy parasite sucking away at her life.

She felt her body stretch and she lost her balance. Her already dizzy head became clouded and her sense of balance was all but shot. As the endless siphon from the grinning monkey statue sucked the last drops of her essence from her body, she didn't even notice that she had tripped over the edge of the balcony – the marbled floor rushing up to meet her head.

The impact however, never came and she continued to fall for what seemed like an eternity. She fell through the floor, then she fell through space and finally she was falling through time. If she had been conscious she would have wondered where, or more aptly, _when_ she would land.

The answer would turn out to be quite a shock.

-

A/N: Okay! Chapter 13 is in the bag. It's a little longer than the last one, so that's why it took a day extra or so. I haven't had too much time recently to keep writing, but my enthusiasm for the story has barely subsided. I hope people really enjoyed this chapter since it was the culmination of a lot of the story threads that I had built up over the preceding 12 chapters of story, however I want to assure everyone that the story isn't going to end here, or even within a chapter of two. There is a lot of ground to cover in the future and things between Ron and Shego are obviously up in the air.

I'm probably going to take an extra couple days of time to plot out the next couple chapters of this story. I have some plans but I want to draw the focus back in since this has been one really long ride so far and I want to make sure that I don't start dithering around and I actually complete the story. From my estimations there is probably another 40k or 50k words left to write until the tale is done and once that's completed then I am going to start working on my other stories that have taken a back burner to this one while I've been devoting all my time here.

However I do think I have some more KP fiction in me after this jaunt, maybe a one shot or a real short story, but I don't want to commit to another full length... well, almost novella, until I sort out at least my Maho Shojo Mustusmi-chan story – I have a ton of ideas for that one and little Mu-chan keeps pestering me in the back of my head to pay her attention. It's too bad for her I love Shego more, eh?

Anyway, thanks once again for reading and reviewing!

QC

PS: This would have been up sooner but the document manager wasn't letting me upload my stuff /evil glare/


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Vital Signs

Quantum reassembly in this time was not something that was understood well by the scientific community at large. It would be decades later after the events that unfolded at the Middleton Space Science Center where the Doctors Possible, Jim and Tim along with visiting fellow Dr. Felix Renton, would finally crack the quantum code that enabled the initial transference to take place. And while this discovery would eventually allow them to perform tests on animal, and later, human subjects, it would be many years later until they were finally able design treatments based on this knowledge and the video taped testimony of Ron Stoppable.

All this was great, but it wasn't doing Ron any good _now_ as he lay on the cold floor with his head feeling like someone had kicked it in and his blood filling the gaps between the white marble tiles of the lab. He laid on his back, blinking his eyes but they wouldn't focus on his surroundings. He tried to remember what he was doing before he ended up in this position, but it escaped him. Then he tried to remember his name and found out that he couldn't do that either. At this point he was getting a little worried and tried to remember how to move his body. He was sure that he actually had this knowledge, but for some reason his limbs wouldn't cooperate with his mental directions.

At this point he kind of gave up in defeat and resigned himself to just waiting out whatever had happened to him. He felt like hell but for some reason it didn't occur to him that he might be dying, most likely because from his prone position he couldn't see the wound in his chest leaking his lifeblood onto the ground. He heard some noises, almost like voices. They were faint, distant sounding, and the tones carried to his ears like he was under water. A dark shape appeared over his face and he was momentarily annoyed that it had cut off his light. He tried to discern what, or who it was but his eyes wouldn't focus and he mentally ran down a list of possibilities but came up with nothing. There was a chattering noise in his left ear that sounded _very_ familiar and he strained to try and hear it through the distortion, unfortunately just as he was about to be able to understand the strange, high-pitched voice, the last little spark of his consciousness gave out and he tumbled into darkness.

The darkness should have been a comforting place. It should have been a quiet place. It should have been a place where Ron could have retreated into his subconscious while his body healed itself. Unfortunately for Ron however, the quantum reassembly had frazzled the synapses in his brain to the point of hyper-activity and while he was knocked out physically, his mind was engaging in a dizzying display of sights, sounds and memories that were slowly coming back on-line as the neural pathways of his brain started to bleed off their overcharged energy. At first there was confusion as he couldn't make sense of the strange visions his brain was showing him, but soon enough he was able to find the connections, follow the threads between images and understanding started to dawn on him. Eventually the frustration gave away to intrigue and finally to resignation.

This was his life, as strange as it had seemed and if it was just a normal process of healing that his brain had embarked upon, or the remnants of his gift from the Monkey King, he didn't know, but the end result was the same.

He remembered the pain on her face and it broke his heart.

Waking up from a coma isn't something that happens in any sort of sequence that can be described in a meaningful way to someone who hasn't experienced it first hand. You can say, "Oh, it's just like waking up from a deep sleep", but that's a shallow explanation that leaves much unsaid. The truth is it was more like groping around in a dark room with a black sheet over your head and your hands tied up with thick mittens while you try to find the door that leads to the bathroom. If you stopped to think about the implications of that description and the frustration and urgency that it implied, then you'd come to understand about a quarter of the actual truth and about half as much as Ron Stoppable would be able to relate to others once he was finally able to talk about it.

"_My eyes hurt_" was the first thing that he thought to himself. He didn't know if it was because they were injured, or if it was because they had been closed for so long. It reminded him of waking up in dark of a long winter morning and looking around for a light source to see by, only to realize that the light itself was causing you pain. It was a moment of sublime frustration – you needed to see, in order to see you needed to look at the light, looking at the light hurt, but turning away would just mean you had to start over again.

He brought his right hand up to his eyes and tried to massage away the pain while he attempted to focus on the room he was in through his split fingers. He heard a gasp from his right and then felt hands going over his own fingers and lips touching his cheek. He was surprised for a moment but then he caught the scent of the person. It was familiar and comforting, she had used the same shampoo and worn the same perfume every day of his life and he instantly felt his body relax.

"Mom?" he whispered over a dry tongue and between parched lips.

"Shh baby, it's ok, everything will be ok." Meryl Stoppable's voice was quiet, but wrought with emotion. Ron felt wetness on his cheek and realized his mother had been crying, shedding her tears on him.

Ron brought his hand away from his face and looked at his mother. His eyes were blurry and wet, but he could focus in on her face. She looked terrible, like someone who had been through the ringer, rode over twice, tossed down a flight of stairs and seen their family pet put down in front of them. Ron was actually pretty disturbed by the sight. One thing that perhaps all children are unprepared for is seeing such strong grief on the faces of their parents and the little six-year-old boy inside Ron was scared at what he was seeing.

"Mom? Where am I?" he said as he started to look around.

Ron saw the tubes connected from his arms to machines, then he saw the stint in his chest that was draining fluids from his wound and he knew the answer before his mother confirmed it.

"You're in the hospital Ronnie, the doctors said that if you woke up you'd be ok."

Ron's mother reached for something at the side of his bed and he noted that it was a call button. He turned his head away and then laid it back in the center of his elevated pillow. His sight was improving and he caught something out of the corner of his eye that focused his attention.

Soft, flippy, auburn-red hair, pooled on the side of his bed.

"_Kim?_" he thought to himself. It was so… unreal; he had often imagined a scenario somewhat like this one. A scenario where he would return from the past to the future and a grief stricken and apologetic Kim would throw herself at his feet and beg for forgiveness. It had been a petty fantasy born out of a hurt and jealous heart and he had harbored it for so many years that eventually it just worked itself out of his system. Now, as he looked down at her slumbering form, her head in her crossed arms, he felt a whimsical kind of sadness that flittered across his heart

"She's been here every day Ronald. I don't know what happened between you two, but she's been at your side ever since…" she paused for a moment, "you came back to us."

Meryl placed her hand on her son's good arm and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"Your father and I have been taking turns staying with you, talking with you – the doctors said it would help if we talked to you. Kim has practically lived here for the last month, she only goes to her parent's house to shower, she hasn't even been to classes. She'll probably have to repeat this semester." Meryl sighed when she said this. She knew that the bond these two children had was a powerful thing, but over the last month she had been just as worried about Kim as she had Ron. The idea that such a bright and vivacious young woman would drown herself in grief tugged at her heart. If anything, she didn't want two lives to be ruined if Ron never woke up.

Ron sighed and leaned back in his bed.

"_My darkest, most selfish fantasy has finally come true and I don't even want it anymore. God what an ass I was to even think this was what I wanted. I wonder what it says about me and how much I 'loved' her that I'd get my jollies from wanting her to feel so much guilt and grief._"

It was a hard thing for Ron to admit, but it came to him anyway. A life time of facing down unpleasant truths about other people and himself had given him an affinity for introspection that he had lacked as a younger man. Had he loved Kim? Almost certainly he had. Could they have worked out? Probably. Was that good enough? Definitely not. His biggest problem with his relationship with Kim was their own naivety and inexperience. After all, they say that first loves almost never work out, don't they? It's supposed to be your second love that rocks your world…

Or, Ron thought, "_Your second and third loves…_"

Iris and Shego – two women that Ron had given everything about himself to and two women that had needed something from him that he didn't even know he could give, a feeling that he didn't even know that he had _needed_ to give. It sounded kind of sexist to him to think about his relationship with Kim in these terms, but she wasn't the kind of girl that needed a man to be strong for her, she was strong enough for herself, for him and for half the world probably. Sure she had her insecurities and she often needed to have her ego massaged a little bit, but anyone really could perform those tasks for her. Ron wanted to give Kim more than that, he wanted to be the person that she could rely on, instead of the person that she felt like she had to keep out of trouble.

It wasn't that Kim was an "independent woman" that had made him feel this way, it was more that she was a complete _caricature _of the concept. Men were independent too, or at least Ron knew that they were supposed to be, but Kim was so over the top that he reasoned if a man had acted that way he would have riddled his spouse with insecurities. Now that Ron was older and wiser he knew that his dogged loyalty and slavish dedication to Kim were just a way for him to cope with those feelings. It was almost like if he could dedicate enough of himself to her that eventually she would relent and admit that she needed Ron to fill that seemingly essential _male_ role for her. Of course, Ron realized that maybe this wasn't actually the case, that Kim was really just fine with always leading the charge and probably she needed someone who would be ok with that too.

Alpha Male Ron was not something that he would ever have thought he would evolve into, but time and experience had a way of changing someone. The problem Ron was facing was that he couldn't really decide if he had changed for the better or not. Still, it was far too late to worry about such things because he was now who he was and it was unlikely after being that person for so long that he would deviate that much from how he felt inside. He knew that he had to do something about Kim, talk to her and set things right, but he also knew he had to do another, very important thing.

He had to find out what had happened to Shego.

Her lovely eyes had been prominent in his synapse-scattered dreams and the emotions that came along with his memories were stark and powerful. He knew, without a doubt, that he loved her and wanted to be with her and he hoped that if _he_ had returned to this time, then perhaps she had as well. The idea that he had left her stranded in the 19th century was a chilling one and he was fearful that the only way he could be involved with her life at this point was through a history book. He pushed that thought aside in his head and replaced it with determination. Now that he knew it was possible for him to travel through time, even that outlandish scenario seemed like something that he could over come. He would do whatever he had to do to be with her, he would travel to any place, to any time and do anything to be by her side. He would run to her and profess his love and even if she rejected him it wouldn't matter, he would just try harder. Ron knew very intimately how special true love was and he also knew that there was absolutely _nothing_ that existed that was more important in the world. He'd pursue Shego's heart for his entire life if he had to and eventually he knew that he would convince her that no one alive would ever love her as deeply as he did. It would be enough; he knew that it would be. Still, he had things to do and the sooner the better.

Ron reached down his hand and placed it on top of Kim's head as he whispered her name softly. He was surprised for a moment at his reaction to that simple movement. Now, just like before, touching Kim felt so _right_ to him. Her head stirred a little under his hand and she pushed her face up on her arms and looked bleary eyed at Ron with an expression of joy, sadness and anxiousness. Ron moved his hand from the top of her head to the side of her face and smiled at her one of his best Ron-smiles.

"How ya doing KP?" he asked in a soft voice.

"R-R-Ron…" stuttered Kim. She fought a little to remain happy and upbeat. Ron was in the hospital, shot, stabbed, burned, previously in a coma and probably nursing a broken heart she had given him. She wanted to be strong for Ron, to comfort him and tell him that she would make everything ok. It was something she was good at, something that she knew she could do because she had been doing it practically all their lives together and it was the way she would handle things now, no matter how much her own grieving heart wanted to be comforted.

"Ron!" she said in a happier tone. She flashed him a big smile and then went to hug him, but paused for a moment – he had all these tubes and wires hooked up to him and she didn't want to disturb any of them. Instead she settled for taking his left hand in her own two hands, squeezing it warmly.

Ron looked at her for a moment and then did something very impulsive. He reached his good arm around to her and twisted his body a little bit so he could wrap it around her shoulder.

"It's good to see you too KP. It's ok, I'm not going to break – at least not a lot," he whispered into her ear.

The effect on Kim was dramatic and immediate. The tears and the sadness that she had been trying to keep at bay finally broke through the wall she had erected around her heart and she started to sob into Ron's good shoulder.

"Ron!" Kim cried, "Oh God Ron, I thought you were gone… I'm so sorry, so sorry, so…"

Kim choked on that last "sorry" and Ron felt her body shudder like a leaf fluttering in the wind. He looked down at her and observed that her tears were running freely down his chest and her words had become unintelligible. If she was crying before, then now could only be described as bawling. She looked so small and fragile in Ron's eyes – not at all how he had remembered her and it pulled on his heartstrings. Suddenly all thoughts of having "The Talk" with Kim went out of his mind. A lot of his feelings for Kim had changed, but then again a lot of them had stayed the same. She was, first of all, his oldest and most important friend – and friends didn't drop the hammer down on each other when they were crying like babies.

"Ronnie, I'm going to call your father," said his mom as she excused herself from the room. Ron caught the look however, what she had really been saying was, "_I'm so glad you two are making up._"

Ron sighed a little bit as he ran his good hand down Kim's back in a soothing gesture. Of course his parents, Kim's parents and probably even Kim herself was assuming, much like he had before he had been sent back in time, that they would work this out and their relationship would get back on track. After all, they were inseparable, weren't they? Through all the years nothing had come between them and nothing would.

Except, of course, for a certain raven-haired beauty whose soulful and sad expression had captured his heart like a siren's song.

-

Kim watched in amazement as Ron's bare torso rippled with power as he lifted the weights in the physical therapy room. Ron had _changed_ and that was the understatement of the century. First of all there was his body. His face looked much like the same goofy guy that she had come to love, but now instead of being merely "cute" the best words that would describe him were "ruggedly handsome". He had three days worth of beard growth on his face right now and while Kim had never been one to go for anything but clean-shaven guys, she was starting to see the attraction in a hot guy looking a little unkempt.

Then of course there was his body. In high school Ron had always been a little too skinny in the arms and a little too soft in the middle. That had started to change when they finally graduated and he started to regularly attended Yamanouchi. Whatever exercises he had learned there he performed religiously when he had returned to the States and during the first two years of their living together in Upperton, Ron had shed the remaining bits of his baby fat and started to fill out. Kim hadn't had much experience with naked men's bodies, but she could tell that at the time while Ron and Josh had both been slim men, Ron had a nice layer of muscle on him that filled out his chest and made his legs feel like rocks to Kim's touch. It was another thing that Kim was surprised to find out about herself – she kind of liked the sensation of hard muscles touching her skin.

"_Wow, ok calm down Kim. Yes, Ron has gone from cutie to hottie but you still have a long, long way to go before anything comes from that…_"

Such reflection brought up the other strange change in Ron Stoppable that Kim couldn't explain. His personality and even the way that he treated her had changed. At first Kim thought it was because of the affair that she had had – walking in on an event like that was bound to change Ron's opinion of her and she knew that it was going to be something that she was going to have to deal with for the rest of her life – but she was willing to do so if it meant that she could have her Ron back with her. The thing that was strange however was that the event _never_ came up in conversation. Kim had even tried to broach it with Ron on several occasions but he often deflected her attempts to bring the topic around, once even going so far as to say that he didn't want to talk about it yet.

"_Yet… That means someday he will want to talk about it. How will it go?_"

The prospect made Kim nervous, very nervous. She loved Ron, she knew that with all her heart. There was only one man in this entire world for her and she had been lucky enough to have him by her side nearly all her life. She had made a mistake, a stupid mistake born out of insecurity and jealousy and she was positive that she would never fumble so badly again. The old axiom, "_You never know what you had until it's gone_" was frighteningly true- Kim had literally lived through it and it was an experience that she vowed to never go through again. She would do whatever it took to win Ron back and once she did she would hold onto him with all her might.

Kim turned her head a little bit at the sound of the door she was sitting next to opening. Her mother, Doctor Anne Possible, entered the room and then took a seat next to her. Kim looked at her mother expectantly, giving her the best "_Spill_" look she could muster.

Anne Possible gave her daughter a crooked grin. There was no use in trying to hide it, Kim would find out sooner or later but she was still curious why Ronald hadn't said anything about it himself. Maybe he was hiding it because he didn't want people to ponder the implications.

"He's fine Kim. In fact, he's better than fine. He's in better shape then men half his age," Anne had let that last part slip out and as expected her smart as a whip daughter caught on to it.

"Mom… Ron is only 21, that's just silly…" Kim let her voice trail off as she caught the look on her Mom's face. It was the same look her Mom gave her whenever she had something to tell her that she didn't want to hear.

"Mom. Ron _is_ only 21, isn't he?" she said as she turned her gaze back to the topic of their conversation. He was working with a therapist on his shoulder, flexing his arms with a heavy medicine ball.

"Kim, you know I talked to your father about this…" Anne Possible said in a low tone.

"I'm not saying this is exactly what happened, but it's likely that Ron didn't just disappear and then reappear in the lab with no time in between. I'm not a physicist but I am a physician and even I can tell that those injuries, especially the gunshot, didn't just happen before that device went out of control."

Kim looked at Ron. Some things were starting to make sense to her. Ron had been _very_ tight lipped about what had happened to him when the quantum disrupter had gone out of control. Every time Kim had tried to ask him about it he had either feigned ignorance or claimed that his memory was "hazy". Kim had been so overjoyed just to have him back, alive and recovering, that she hadn't wanted to press him about things that he hadn't wanted to talk about.

"So, are you saying that Ron went someplace…" Kim asked.

"Well, from talking to your father I'd say, someplace… or some time. Tell me Kim, don't you think Ron is looking a little, well, mature these days?" her mother asked.

Kim studied Ron again. She had to agree, that was a good word to put on it – maturity. He looked older, but not _old_. No in fact his body looked, in Kim's opinion, damn fine. But still there was this air about him that she couldn't put her finger on before. She had thought to herself that maybe the experience had just altered Ron a little bit, but now after hearing her mother beat around the bush she was starting to have some questions of her own.

"Lay it on me Mom. It's cool," Kim said jokingly.

"Kim, maybe you should ask Ronald about this…" her Mom began, but Kim cut her off.

"Trust me I will, but I want to hear it first. Spill Mom."

Anne Possible locked her gaze on her daughter and then spoke in a very soft whisper.

"The genetic testing is pretty accurate, even if we could have guessed by just the physical examination we did on him, anyway... There are two things Kim. First – that is definitely Ron Stoppable; no doubt at all He's a 99 genetic match with his mother and father. Secondly – he's much older than the Ron that left us a few weeks ago. The tests say that he's somewhere near his middle to late 30's."

Anne peered intently at her daughter to see what effect this information would have on her. She had a pretty good idea of how Kim would take it, but still she had a mothers concern for her daughter and even while it seemed odd to Anne to maybe have a son-in-law that was only a decade or so younger than her, he was _still_ Ron, their Ron. He was practically already a member of their family.

"Do you know how this happened? Is it a side effect from the accident? He's not still…" Kim didn't finish her sentence, but her mom caught her meaning anyway.

"No, Kim as far as we can tell it's all natural. He's aging normally. There are scars on his body that have healed up, even broken bones that weren't in his medical record. All those things take time Kim, some of them a lot of time." Anne said to her daughter.

Kim kept her eyes locked on Ron and thought for a few moments, then she began to speak.

"He's still Ron, _my Ron_… right Mom?" she asked in a subdued voice.

Anne Possible wanted to soothe her daughter, but she still had concerns of her own. If Ron had been gone for as long as it seemed he had, then there was a high probability that he _wasn't_ really the Ron Stoppable that they knew any more. Time had a way of changing people, she knew this intimately from her own life where she had gone from a school girl, to a young bride, to a mother in the span of so few precious years. It was what people simply called "life" and Anne could only begin to guess what Ron's life had been like since he had been separated from them all.

"Kim, no matter what, Ron Stoppable is your oldest and best friend. Build on that and I'm sure everything will work out for both of you."

Kim grunted a little internally. These weren't the words of encouragement she had wanted to hear from her mother. Her gaze had never left Ron since they had begun talking and her eyes were taking in the sight of the man as he performed the exercises his instructor was showing him.

"_He's older than me now. It's strange… but it doesn't change how I feel about him, not even a little bit. I'm young; we can still have a family. Maybe we'll start a little earlier than I had wanted, but that's ok too. The age actually agrees with him, he doesn't look broken down but… worldly. He'll probably only get more handsome as he gets older. What will that be like? In ten years he'll be Dad's age – will he look just as distinguished?_"

Kim laughed a little bit at herself. When she was five, she had loudly proclaimed at her aunt's wedding that when she grew up she was going to marry her daddy. It was embarrassing to think about now, but even weirder to think that she was seriously contemplating marrying and having babies with a man that was nearly her father's age. Maybe that five-year-old self had known something at the time that twenty-one year old Kim hadn't guessed at yet. Either way you looked at it, life was a strange trip and few people had experienced strangeness so intimately as Kim Possible.

"Mom…" Kim paused for a moment as if she was about to make a dramatic pronouncement, "It's cool – I kind of like older guys!" she chirped this last statement at the end with a smirk on her face causing Anne to giggle a little bit.

"And besides, Ron was cute before but now he's a certified hottie!" Kim added impishly.

Anne Possible just laughed and said in a conspiratorial tone to her daughter, "I know!"

Kim's smile suddenly went crooked as the implications of her mother's admission sunk into her head.

"Mom… that's just sick-wrong!" she said, trying to restrain her giggles.

"Well, you know if I didn't have your father…" Anne let her voice trail off while she waggled her eyebrows at Kim.

"MOM!" screeched Kim.

"What? I'm just saying, you know he's closer to my age now than yours and – "

"OH MY GOD MOTHER! PLEASE STOP!" Kim covered her ears with her hands and blushed a furious shade of crimson.

"Oh relax Kim, I'm just teasing…" Anne Possible said to her daughter.

Kim turned to look at her mother with her eyes still agog.

"Mostly anyway." Anne finished.

"OhmygodmomI'mgoingtobesick!" said Kim as she finally gave up in defeat.

"Hey, what's going on here beautiful Possible ladies?" said Ron as he walked over to the two of them. He had just finished his rehabilitation workout and was toweling off his face and neck. A think layer of sweat shone brightly off his toned chest and Kim felt herself go a little funny inside as she looked at him.

"Oh nothing Ronald. Just teasing Kim a little bit. How was your workout?" said Anne.

"Pretty good Mrs. Doctor P. The therapist says I've got most of the movement back in my arm and there won't be any major lasting damage so long as I continue to do my exercises… although I wonder if it's really necessary for me to do so many bending over stretches. I mean, it's my arm that's injured right? I don't get these things…" Ron draped the towels over his shoulder as he looked around for his gym bag.

Kim's eye twitched a little bit and she shot a look of death at the physical therapist on the other side of the room. Kim her self wasn't above checking out Ron while he was exercising, in fact it was actually one of the bright spots of her week, but the idea that the shy brown haired girl that worked out with him might be trying to catch more than a peek herself… Well as already established, Kim Possible was a pretty jealous woman.

"Hey Ron, do you really have to come here much longer? I mean I can do the exercises with you and we can do them at the apartment." Kim stopped her statement.

"_The apartment is a trouble spot, way to go Kim. Very smooth._"

She quickly tried to recover, "Or at your house you know, or my house… anywhere really. But I'd really like to help you out if I could."

Ron was rummaging around in his duffle bag looking for something, seemingly so lost in concentration that he replied with an ambiguous, "Yeah… maybe."

"_The infamous Ron Stoppable 'maybe'. Translation – don't bring that up again, or – not very likely._"

Kim sighed, this had been going on for weeks now. She tried very hard to get closer to Ron, to spend more time with him, but it was all she could muster these days to get him to go with her to Bueno Nacho and he practically _lived_ at that place.

"Hey, have either of you seen my shirt?" Ron asked.

Kim looked around, "Hmm… I would have sworn it was here someplace."

"Yeah, I thought maybe someone had put it in my bag… wait, I left it on these chairs."

Kim got up and looked at her chair, there was nothing on it. Then she looked at her Mother and noticed a pale blue fabric poking out from under her lab coat.

"Mom, you're sitting on Ron's shirt," she said.

Anne Possible just smiled and said, "Really? Am I?"

Kim practically gasped, "Mom! Get off Ron's shirt please!"

Anne seemed to be reluctant while she got to her feet and smoothed out her lab coat. Her face was visibly frowning and she looked at Kim and shot her daughter a smirk.

"_OH GOD MOM THAT'S JUST GROSS!_"

Kim was flustered and she reached down and snatched Ron's shirt from the chair and practically threw it at him. "Here, put that on!" she barked a little louder than she would have liked to.

Ron grinned as he gingerly slipped his shirt over his head and onto his still slightly damp body. He was cooling down from his workout and it felt nice to have the warmth of the shirt on his skin, even if putting it on hurt a little bit. His shoulder was doing pretty good these days and so long as he didn't do anything wrong with it, he'd heal in time, probably even _faster_ if he tapped into his power to speed up the process. It had been a very, very long time since Ron had purposely tried to use his Mystical Monkey Power but when he searched for it he knew it was still there, brewing beneath the surface of his skin.

He remembered the rush of adrenaline and power that flowed through his body whenever he had cause in the past to summon forth the mystical strength, but he also remembered the shaking, the withdrawal and the agony of trying to shake it's hold on him off. It was a strange thing that he possessed and he wondered why Fiske had wanted it so bad. Sure it made you powerful, practically super human, but the price it extracted from him was more than he was willing to pay. Even now he would rather suffer through the agonizingly slow natural healing process than touch it.

The whole thing was a complicated problem that Ron didn't have a solution for right now. It was one of the many things that he had resolved when he had arrived back in the present, to learn how to control the power, but he needed to talk to a certain ancient mystic in Japan to get some of the answers that he wanted. He knew that any sort of knowledge that Master Sensei would dole out to him be cryptic at best, but it was far better than groping around in the dark and if his dreams were any indication he'd have to solve this problem sooner, rather than later.

Ron looked at the smiling faces of Kim and her mother and wondered what they would think of him if he told them about his dreams and about the thoughts that crept unbidden to his mind every time he closed his eyes.

"_Hi Kim, I've been having this strange reoccurring dream. You see in it, both of us are trying to save the world – Yeah, I know… that's not the weird part. You see at the end of the dream we are fighting Shego and you're about to kill her and then for some strange reason I turn all blue and kill you. No, I have no idea what that means… probably._"

Ron shook his head, spraying small droplets of sweat from his hair and then picked up his bag. He joked about it in his head, but he could only imagine the outcome of that sort of conversation with Kim and the questions that would follow. Questions that he really wasn't prepared to answer at this time. And besides, the dream had a couple of weird flaws in it. The first and the most obvious to Ron was that Kim had _never_ tried to kill Shego or anyone for that matter in her entire life. Ron actually wondered if it came to it, if she would be able to do such a thing at all – luckily they have never had the opportunity to find out. Also there was the case of Shego battling him and Kim. Perhaps it wasn't too far out of the ordinary; at least with how things _used_ to be between the three of them, but Ron loved Shego now and he couldn't imagine himself purposely fighting her. Unless of course, she didn't love him… a train of thought he didn't want to pursue at this point in time.

Lastly there was the issue of the Mystical Monkey Power. In Ron's dream he vividly recalled the rush of the power engulfing him and overpowering his senses. It was an experience that he had felt very few times before. It was the signature calling card of the power when it arose from him completely unbidden like it had when he was a younger man. He had since learned how to partially control the power and while he was no master of it, he knew that he had never, ever, no matter what sort of distress he was under, summoned it unconsciously in years.

"_Just another reason to make my first stop Yamanouchi._"

Ron had wanted very desperately to immediately begin his search for Shego as soon as he was able to walk about but it was hard to explain to his friends and especially his family why he was going to refuse hospital treatment and then take off alone. He had actually broached the subject with his mother just a couple of days after he had woken up in the hospital, but he never got past the look on Meryl Stoppable's face. Even though his Mom seemed better, more relieved, that he had woken up – Ron could sense the tumultuous emotions broiling under the surface of her skin and the look on her face when he started in with his serious voice was just way too much for Ron to handle.

Instead he decided that he would do this, follow the treatment, physically heal if not emotionally and prove to his Mom that her little boy was going to be fine. It would take some time, but once his parents were sure that their son wasn't going to disappear in a blast of quantum energy or fall over dead from wounds, they'd probably be more willing to accept things like a little traveling – ostensibly to Japan, but with more than a few detours along the way.

Kim, on the other hand, was another matter entirely. Ron had been doing his best to keep some distance from her, or more accurately their old dating relationship, but Kim was being Kim and that meant two words – tenacious determination. The thing that made it so terrible was that despite the fact that Ron didn't quite love her the way that he had, Kim it seemed was still desperately in love with him. One-sided love was not something that Ron was comfortable dealing with, especially when the person with stars in her eyes was his oldest and best friend.

"_Best friends forever. That's us, right Kim? I'm trying but you need to give me some room to breathe._"

It was a situation that Ron had feared even before they had started dating – that the romance would ruin their friendship. He was more than a little surprised that it would end up being _him_ that would be having these feelings, so total and complete was his old love for Kim, but these were the facts and it made him feel terrible. He felt cheap and dirty for abusing her friendship this way, but he didn't see how to extract himself from the weird state of their current relationship. The best he could do for now was treat her with kid gloves and then try to get away from her, hopefully far away. He didn't want his reoccurring nightmare to become reality.

"So Ron…" said Kim as she broke his train of thought, "Feel like picking up a couple of nacos with me?"

Ron smiled at her, this one time he would just go with the flow and not think about things too much. They'd go to Bueno Nacho, order their usual – nacos for him, a chimmirito for Kim and then sit in their old high school booth and enjoy hanging out. He was feeling pretty fit these days and it would be a good way to wind down after his morning workout. He didn't even need the extra encouragement of Rufus this time, but he did notice that his little friend had perked up from his resting place and was vigorously nodding his head up and down.

"Sounds good KP!" Ron said as he shouldered his bag, then he caught a whiff of something emanating from his armpits. He made a face and then waved his hand in front of his face.

"Ugh, I promise not to sit too close – don't worry," he joked.

Kim laughed and handed Ron his jacket.

"All right Mom, see ya later," said Kim as they headed for the exit.

Anne Possible seemed to think for a moment and then broke in, "You know Kim it's almost my lunch break…"

Ron caught the look that Kim shot her mother and had to refrain from chuckling. He didn't quite understand what they were talking about but he could tell that Anne Possible was having a _really_ good time tweaking her only daughter.

"Oh well. Maybe later Ronald," Anne said while she gave him a coy smile and a little wave.

Ron was a little stunned, but he didn't have much time to think about it since Kim had grabbed his hand and literally pulled him through the door and out of the hospital.

-

"Stop looking at me you freak!" screamed Shego as she launched a punch at the wall of her containment chamber that shook the entire contraption on its base.

"S-S-Shego! I'm not looking, I promise!" stammered Drakken as he made an over exaggerated motion of keeping his face focused off on some unknown point on the ceiling.

Shego muttered under her breath. She knew that if she wanted to she could blast apart the chamber in a second, run across the room and blast Drew Lipsky into tiny little blue bits on the wall. That wouldn't accomplish much right now, except relieving a little frustration and covering her naked form with his guts – and besides, Drakken was the only one she could turn to right now to help her with her _little problem_.

"How much longer until you find a cure?" she barked as she slumped down on the floor of her clear cell.

Drakken looked a little sheepish while he fiddled with a keyboard attached to a device that was monitoring Shego's chamber. He said something low under his breath and tapped away at the keys.

"What was that?" Shego asked, this time crawling closer to the wall and arching her eyebrow at him.

"I said…" Drakken hated breaking bad news to Shego, "… I don't really know."

Another punch and violent cursing followed his proclamation and Drakken did his best not to look directly at Shego while she vented her anger.

"It's not all bad," Drakken continued, "I have managed to discover a few things…"

Shego moaned a little bit. Drew was about to go off on one of his famous explanations and there was no way she could avoid it, after all, it was about _her_. She had come back to him almost accidentally. When she had first arrived back in the present time her memory had been shattered into fragments and she was disoriented, so much so that she was unable to actually mentally tally up her options before Drakken had arrived to retrieve her. Despite the fact that Shego bore no identification, nor external technological devices, she had reluctantly agreed to allow Drakken to implant a small subcutaneous microchip under the base of her neck that doubled as a GPS tracking device and emergency health monitor. Shego knew where it was, she knew how to deactivate it, and she knew how to remove it if she had to – so she figured it was a small invasion of her privacy when compared to the prospect of being held in a secret prison where Drakken and his henchmen couldn't rescue her.

Now she was wondering if she had made the right choice. Maybe she should have struck out someplace else… perhaps even turned herself in to Global Justice for help. They would have access to better equipment, more scientists and the one person she wanted to see more than anyone else… Ron Stoppable.

She really desperately wanted to see Ron, but the thing that bothered her is that she didn't know if he was alive, if he had arrived back in this time, or even if he wanted to see her. Her feelings about the entire situation were tumultuous at best and as much as she tried not to dwell on it, she couldn't force the dreams of their reunion out of her mind. The one thing that really tore her was that in her dreams, just like real life, she couldn't decide if she wanted to kill him or kiss him.

"Spill it Dr. D," she said as she leaned back against the cold wall of her containment chamber. She huddled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, both in an effort to warm herself up as well as cover some of her nakedness.

"Well, we'll start with the best news first," said Drakken.

"You're not dying. In fact, you're in perfect health. Congratulations."

"Woo me," said Shego as she sarcastically waved her fist in the air.

"Also, as I'm sure you've noticed, your cosmic energy has increased about ten fold." Drakken continued.

"Wow, brilliant powers of deduction there Dr. D," replied Shego as she rolled her eyes.

Drakken shot her a dirty look and then remembered that he wasn't supposed to be looking and buried his nose in a computer display.

"Yes, anyway – I think I have determined the reason for your apparent lack of control over your powers and I believe I may even be able to help you reign them back in."

This was good news, news that Shego wasn't expecting. The way Drakken made it sound, the entire thing was pretty tentative, but he knew better than to say anything to her that he couldn't actually make happen.

"How?" she asked.

"Well Shego there is something more…" Drakken was cut off by Shego.

"HOW!" she screamed at him, the intensity of her feelings was obvious by the fact that her green flamed form practically raged with power.

"W-w-well… I can create a dampening device, a miniature version of the chamber here. If you wear it, it should allow you to bleed off some of your energy, at least enough that you'll be able to dress normally and walk around like you're used to without destroying everything that gets within three feet of you." Drakken was starting to get into it now, he loved talking about anything he could possibly create, plot, or do.

Shego listened to him drone on for a few more minutes while she contemplated the situation. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would work – she'd be able to live a relatively normal life, so long as Drakken was right and there weren't any hidden strings attached. Allowing Drakken to put a device on her that she didn't know how worked was a dangerous prospect and Shego knew it. She didn't think that Drew would purposely do anything to hurt her, but she also knew that he wasn't above manipulating people to do what he wanted. She felt like she was walking a fine line, threading a path between two yawning chasms.

"Alright, cut to the chase – Why don't you have it done yet?" Shego asked.

Drakken looked a little annoyed that Shego wouldn't let him continue his explanation, but he had gotten enough of it out of his system that he didn't pout – at least not too much.

"I need a part that I don't have. A one of a kind circuit to complete the device that is currently being held by our dear friends at Global Justice."

"Dr. D, I can't go steal anything like this…" Shego held her arms out, displaying the twisting green flames that billowed out of control off her hands.

"I know Shego, but I'm also working on a temporary solution for that too. If everything goes well, it'll be done within the week and then we can work out the particulars of getting that chip…" Drakken's voice trailed off as he read through some lab reports that were on his computer monitor. Something sparked his attention and made his eyes go wide. He stole a glance at Shego and then back at the screen, trying to absorb the information and how it made him feel. It might change his plans for Shego, or maybe not… maybe it would be the one thing to finally bend her completely to his will.

"Shego, don't you think you should eat something?" he asked softly as he double-checked the lab report to make sure it was correct.

Shego glared at Drakken. "Eating" was one of the tasks that she preferred to do in private. Her body these days was covered with cosmic energy that was out of control and because of this she practically destroyed everything that came within a few feet of her. Clothing was completely out of the question at the moment, it would just disintegrate if it got close enough to her. Feeding herself was also difficult since she couldn't even pick up any food without blasting it apart. The solution to the problem was a large cylindrical feeding tube, like one might expect in a hamster cage, that would descend from the ceiling and drop some nutritious goopy soup into her mouth. It was humiliating to say the least.

"I'm not hungry," she said firmly – she wasn't about to let Drew have his jollies seeing her nude form with her head arched back and being fed from the suspiciously phallic looking tube.

Drakken knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but the information in the lab report had made up his mind. It was a gamble, and he'd have to see how she reacted to the bomb he was about to drop on her. If he played his hands well, then he would have her wrapped around his finger for a very long time.

"Shego, I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist. It's very important that you get enough nutrition, especially right now," he ventured those last words in a coy manner.

Shego snorted and thought to herself, "_I'll kill you, you little pervert…_" but something about his voice made her ask a question.

"What do you mean by that Drew?" she asked with a hint of threat in her voice.

"I'm looking at the medical report from that blood we were able to draw from you…" Drakken said.

"Wait, I thought you said I was healthy?" Shego didn't mean for it, but a note of concern had crept into her voice.

"Yes, yes you are – very healthy. But proper nutrition is a must, especially for expectant mothers." Drakken couldn't resist anymore and he looked directly at Shego to see how she was taking the news.

She didn't say anything at first and her feelings were a jumble of emotions that were totally indescribable. The first thing that came out of her mouth was a rejection.

"How is this possible? I'm sterile! The accident…" Shego choked a little bit as her mind was starting to catch up to her heart.

"I don't really understand it either. The background radiation in your body should have heavily mutated your eggs. Of course there is a small chance that a few of them would be intact enough to be fertilized, but even if that was the case then the energy in your body would have obliterated any sperm…"

Shego ignored the rest of Drakken's speculation, she knew what had happened, or at least suspected enough. She hadn't told Drakken about the period of time in the past where she had lost her powers and the energy hadn't seemed to be in her body. That meant there was a window there when her body wouldn't reject a mans seed and by some miracle it had managed to take root in one of her damaged eggs. The truth finally hit her like a ton of bricks.

"_My God, the sidekick got me pregnant!_"

Shego wanted to cry. She wanted to scream in joy. This was something that she had never thought would happen to her. Something that she had been _told_ was a part of womanhood that she would never be able to have. She remembered vividly the crushing feeling of finding out that through no fault of her own she had been denied one of the precious dreams of her girlhood and how it had made her feel somehow _less_, like she was less of a woman. Now somehow, either through chance or fate, she was being presented with an opportunity that she had long desired. Just one more thing that Tim North had given her that she thought she would never experience.

She didn't know how _he_ would take the news, or even if she wanted to tell him. She didn't know if he loved her, or if he had played her. She knew that the feelings that she had for him were real, more real than anything she had felt in her life and she secretly thought that maybe that was the reason _why_ this little miracle had taken place for her. There were a lot of questions that she needed to have answered, but one thing was firm in her mind. No matter what he said, no matter what his intentions were, he had given her something that she had ached for and she was going to protect that precious thing with everything she had and never let it slip out of her grasp.

She placed her hands on her belly and looked down through the green flames. There was something inside her now, something delicate and wonderful and in that instant of recognition her entire worldview shifted a little bit.

"Drew, will it be ok?" she asked softly, still wrapped up in her own thoughts.

Drakken studied the look on her face a little bit and then made a calculated ploy, one that he hoped she would buy even if he was guessing and fabricating most of it.

"I'm not sure Shego. We'll have to get that dampening device constructed before you can undergo a physical examination and that'll take a while, but I'm fairly certain that your chances of bringing the child to full term are pretty slim unless we do something about your power output…"

Shego shook a little bit. Would her power kill her unborn child? Would it still be able to rob her of the things that she wanted, even after she had suffered so much? She struggled to control her anger so that she wouldn't flare up with any more green energy. The power was the enemy right now and she fought to contain it as much as she could.

Drakken cleared his throat and continued, "There is also the possibility of complications, or genetic mutation, who knows really what effect your energy is going to have on it. It may be safer for you to terminate the pregnancy."

Shego shot Drakken a look that confirmed his suspicions. The things that he was telling her were not outright lies, but they were based more on speculation than any science and crafted firmly to manipulate her. Now that it seemed that she was falling into his trap, he started to close the jaws down on her.

"Of course Shego if you want to try to carry the child to full term…" he lowered his voice a little bit, "I'll help you, any way I can."

Yes, he'd help her all right. He'd feed her lies and fake trouble scenarios and then deliver to her what she wanted. She would look at her child and every time she saw it's face she would be reminded at just how much she owed him. He had been worried from her attitude upon her return that she was slipping away from him and Drakken didn't like that, not one bit. He didn't want to admit it but he _needed_ Shego for his plans, he needed her to continue to be his loyal minion to the end. If he had to ensure that loyalty with a few well-placed lies… well, he _was_ a villain after all.

Shego looked at Drakken with a face of set determination that he hadn't seen before. She made no effort to conceal her nakedness as she reached out with one hand and shattered the wall of her cell. She stepped down to the ground, her bare foot making contact with the tile and pulverizing her footprint into it.

"I'll go like this. I'll raze the place to the ground and you can have the synthodrones follow behind me and pick up the chip."

Drakken inwardly smiled to himself. This was already going much better than he had been hoping for.

"Of course Shego, just let me make some arraignments for your travel. Global Justice won't know what hit them."

Drew Lipsky had to seriously struggle from skipping as he left the room to have one of the spare containment chambers hauled onto a transport plane. Shego's powers, already formidable, were so incredibly potent now that she not only _could,_ but definitely _would_ tear Global Justice's headquarters to the ground. There were a few other places that he wanted to be wiped off the face of the map as well and he grinned in delight as he started to calculate what "other" little things he would tell Shego that he needed in order to complete the dampening device.

Of course, the fact that it was all lies didn't matter too much, so long as he got his vengeance on those that have wronged him. Shego would eventually get the device he promised her, but not until he had his full of revenge.

He felt like a kid in a candy store as he mentally made his list of things that he would have the raven-haired villainess do before he offered up to her the thing she wanted.

-

A/N: Well it looks like I am back in the swing of things with a return to the pretty big chapters. I actually condensed some of the plot a little bit in this chapter to make things flow a little better and to keep myself on track – I find that to be the hardest thing for me as a writer, not wanting to pour out thousands of extraneous words whenever I sit down to write!

The next chapter looks to be good, with the return of Team Possible and the first post-time travel meeting between Ron and Shego. Maybe Shego will have some interesting news for Ron, or maybe not? Oh… there I go again taunting my loyal readers! I'm sorry, I'll try to cut it down but it's so much fun!

Also be aware of the title of this story – People with good imaginations will be able to guess at how much more story there is left to write (hint: quite a bit). I look at the previous chapters following up to this one as sort of the _back story_ for the romance between Ron and Shego. I set them up in a specific situation to bring them together and foster some romantic feelings between them, and now comes those nasty little things called complications. The last thing I will say about the upcoming plot is that everyone should expect to see some serious Mystical Monkey Mojo Madness coming up and it promises to be fun.

Also a little blurb here: People who are fans of RONGO type stories, please check out the C2: Comet Showers and Monkey Powers. The owner, Deyinel has added me as staff to it and I'd like to do my part to encourage people to add their own RONGO tales, one shots, song fics, etc to that C2. As an added encouragement anyone who wants to begin a RONGO tale, please feel free to shoot me a personal message through my profile about anything I can help you with, be it pre-reading, struggling with plot ideas, even a little ghost writing if you get stuck on something. I'm not superman but I'm more than happy to let people pick my brain in the cause of a good RONGO. Of course any good RONGO that people draw to my attention I'd be more than happy to add to the C2 as well.

I know there are hundreds of people that are religiously following this story, so I hope that at least a few of you might be inspired to put down your own ideas. If you've enjoyed my writing so far, it's really the best way to pay me back and I promise I'll support you as much as I can.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing my story!

QC

PS: ZOMGWTFBBQSAUCE! What is up with all the dreaded, evil, nasty, KIGO on the front page? I feel like writing a Mankey/Barkin homoerotic slash fest just to pay them all back.

And good Lord, nobody wants to see that.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – Reunion

Ron took another bite of his Naco and noisily munched in an attempt to pretend that he hadn't heard Kim's question. It was a risky proposition – playing stupid or just inattentive, it chanced making Kim focus in on him like a laser beam.

"Ron, are you paying attention to me?" Kim asked.

Ron stopped his chewing and looked up from his tray to Kim's face. The look she sported was classic KP and for a second Ron felt like they were both back in high school.

"Huh? Sorry KP, I just have a lot on my mind right now." Ron stated.

It was a good ploy, a perfectly crafted attack at Kim's concern for him in order to deflect her questions that he didn't want to answer. If Kim ever figured out that Ron was actually smarter than her he would probably be doomed. He noticed with a little bit of satisfaction that he had provoked the correct reaction from his lunch date as Kim's look of annoyance visibly softened and changed to one of concern.

"Ron, sweetie…" Kim said and then blushed a little bit. She was laying the sugar on a little thick, especially after what had happened between them but she was driven on by her desire to both make things right with Ron as well as her own insecurities about his feelings for her. Ron had been pretty aloof since his return and Kim's feminine intuition was firing off warning signals left and right. Of course, that was the same feminine intuition that had caused her to make the biggest mistake of her life, so she didn't know how far she could trust it. Kim caught herself and continued to talk.

"I know things have been really hard for you and there are probably a lot of things that you don't want to talk about. I don't know how you feel about me right now, but I still consider you my best friend and I want to help you. I know I haven't been much of a friend…." Kim paused for a moment, she was about to go into dangerous territory, territory that they hadn't talked about since his return.

"… especially considering what I did to you. Ron, I want you to know that I feel terrible about that and I was wrong. I was being stupid and jealous and childish. I don't love him Ron, I never have, I was just hurt because I thought the one I did love didn't think I was good enough for him. But it was wrong, I guess I was the one that wasn't good enough for you Ron."

Kim lost it about two thirds into her little speech. She had rehearsed these words, or at least words like them, many times before in private but now that she was in public, sitting in their old booth at Bueno Nacho nonetheless, the emotions just came out full bore. Tears were trailing down her cheeks and she wiped her nose with the side of her hand as she struggled to contain the emotion in her voice.

Ron didn't like seeing Kim like this. He had thought initially after he had found her screwing Mankey that a scene like this would have made him feel better, justified in his anger towards her, but now that it was happening he realized that he hated the idea of his best friend forever being so tormented. Yes, she had hurt him, but part of it was his fault for keeping secrets from her. He winced at that thought, secrets it seemed always had a way of coming back to bite him in the ass. Although it had taken him a life time to learn, Ron had finally come to understand that there could be no secrets between people who loved each other. He only hoped that he could find Shego again so that he could spill his guts to her.

Ron reached across the table and handed Kim a napkin from his tray, she took it and instead of retracting his hand he placed it over her own in a comforting gesture. He didn't say anything, he didn't say, "It's ok Kim," even though he had wanted to. He knew instinctively, as someone who had betrayed someone he loved, that she needed to just get things off her chest first before any sort of reconciliation could take place.

"Ron, here…" said Kim as she reached into her shirt and pulled at the gold chain that she wore around her neck. She lifted the drape of it out of the front of her v-style collar and the sparkle caught Ron's eye. She unclasped the necklace and then turned Ron's hand over and placed the entire thing in his grasp.

Ron stared at his open palm for a minute. A golden chain was coiled there, like the loops of a gilded serpent and in its jaws was a diamond ring - the diamond ring that he had planned to give to Kim on that fateful night.

"I've carried it with me ever since that night. I know I didn't have a right to keep it, but when I thought you were gone I couldn't bear to part with it. I wanted to give it back to your parents, but every time I tried to work up the nerve I would put it on my finger and imagine the way things could have been… the way things _should_ have been, if I wasn't such a damn idiot." Kim was slowly regaining her composure, although she was still sniffling quite a bit. She didn't wait for Ron to say anything before she continued.

"Even now I still don't want to let it go, not the ring I guess, but the dream that comes along with it. But I'm giving it back to you anyway, like I said it's not because I don't want it, but because I don't think I deserve it. I know it's selfish of me Ron, but I still love you."

Kim pronounced those last words so wistfully that Ron's heart almost started to weep. He could see in her eyes a future that would never come to pass and he didn't know how to relate that to her without crushing her feelings. Yes, Kim had wounded him, but could he hurt her in return? Was he really being kind, or was he just scared of the consequences? He struggled mightily against his own cowardice for long minutes.

"KP…" he began tentatively, "There's something I didn't tell you, that I didn't tell anyone, about the accident at the lab."

Kim stared at Ron intently, hanging on his every word. This was it, he was going to finally tell her what happened to him, what happened to all those missing years. He was struggling so Kim gave him a little push.

"Ron, I know about how old you are… Mom's a doctor after all and they figured at least that small part of it out. If it matters to you, it doesn't change how I feel about you and I mean that."

Ron sighed a little bit looked down again at his tray, now it was Kim's turn to comfort him as she squeezed his hand.

"It's ok Ron, you can tell me whatever it is – nothing is going to ever change the fact that you are my best friend forever." Kim said this in a gentle tone with as much feeling as she could muster. She meant it, she meant every word of it. Even if Ron didn't want to return her feelings of love, she would never ever again abandon him. She would look out for Ron Stoppable as best as she could for the rest of her life even if he never said a single word of thanks.

"About that Kim… I've been gone for a _very_ long time – longer than it looks actually. Even if I could tell you the exact number of years, it would be meaningless because it's so large that I wouldn't even believe it myself." Ron said.

"Where did you go Ron? I've seen your body, I've seen those scars. What happened?" Kim asked.

Ron looked at Kim for a long moment and then decided something to himself.

"_I can't keep holding onto all of these secrets by myself for eternity._"

"Kim, I was sent back in time. Over two hundred years, and not just me but Monkey Fist and Shego too…"

Ron started to lay into his story, telling Kim about the time loop, about his past lives. He even told her about Iris and how he was married to her for a lifetime and their bittersweet parting. Kim cried when she heard of this, not out of jealousy but because she knew very intimately what it felt like to lose someone she loved that much. She looked at Ron in awe, he had suffered through so many things and bore so much pain that she wondered if the carefree boy that she had fallen in love with even existed any more.

Ron finished up his story. His naco's had long since gone cold and he stared at Kim's face as she digested all the information he had given her. He had carefully left out all references to his romantic relationship with Shego, but it was a hard thing to do. He wanted to tell _someone_ of his feelings for her, but he wisely decided that perhaps Kim wasn't the person he should tell – at least not right now. If he gave her some time to get used to the idea that he had lived all these separate lives from her, then maybe the shock of his affair with the beautiful villainess would be easier to stomach.

"Oh God Ron, I'm so sorry." Kim said these words with such passion that Ron felt his heart tighten.

"It's ok Kim, its not your fault," he said.

"But Ron, if I hadn't… then you wouldn't have been there alone and…" Kim was approaching hysterics now and Ron did his best to calm her down.

"KP, there wasn't anything you could do about it. Take it from me, I've seen so many things, lived through so many amazing coincidences, it's like my eyes have finally been opened to something that everyone suspects, but people have a hard time confirming. It's fate KP, that's what it is. When I look around me all I can see is the hand of fate, touching everything and everyone around me. I really believe that Kim, it's the one thing that kept me from going crazy after all those years alone."

Ron was rubbing his fingers over the back of Kim's hand. This lunch had been one of the longest in his memory with the least amount of food eaten, but it had been worth it. Some of the barriers that had been erected between the two of them had finally been torn asunder. Ron still had one secret left, a rather big one actually, but he had to hold onto it at least until he could talk to Shego.

This small moment of friendship only lasted a minute longer before the familiar tone of the Kimmunicator going off snapped them out of the mood. Kim reluctantly reached into her purse and opened up the device.

"What's the sitch Wade?" said Kim after she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

Wade Load looked a little sheepish, as if he instinctively knew that he had interrupted at a bad time. He drew in his breath and then began to speak.

"I got a personal call from Dr. Director, GJ headquarters is under attack by Drakken and Shego. Here I've got some video…"

Ron's ears perked up when he heard the name Shego and he craned his neck over the booth to get a look at the Kimmunicator's view screen. A tiny image blinked into life and Ron had to struggle against wanting to instantly bolt to the scene, leaving Kim behind. On the screen, illuminated by vibrant green flames, was the nude form of Shego, blasting apart Global Justice headquarters like an angry child tumbling a house of cards. The power and the violence was overwhelming and Ron wondered if it was him that had driven her to this.

"Wade, what the hell is wrong with Shego?" asked Kim.

The video footage was replaced with Wade's visage and he began to speak.

"We're not sure Kim, it looks like Shego's cosmic powers are off the hook. She shredded an Abrahms tank like it was made out of papier-mâché and whatever is going on with those flames is keeping all sorts of small arms fire and even heavier stuff from hurting her. It's like the ordinance just explodes before it hits. Global Justice is sending a helicopter to your location right now…"

Almost on cue the sound of whirling rotor blades could be heard coming from the Bueno Nacho parking lot.

"I've had the new battle suits loaded on board the transport, suit up as fast as you can and I'll give you guys the run down on the new features."

Kim was already on her feet running towards the helicopter, and Ron followed behind her.

"Wait… Ron, what are you doing?" Kim said as she noticed her friend following her.

"I'm going… with you?" Ron sort of stated and kind of asked.

"No way Ron, you're still hurt and this mission is highly dangerous. There's no way you're coming…" Kim was shut down by Ron's hand going up in her face.

"Listen to me Kim. Thank you for your concern, but it's misplaced. I'm fine and I'm going, even if I have to get my own ride." Ron came on a little strong, and a hell of a lot stronger than Kim had ever seen him. Ron didn't give her any time to respond as he hauled ass across the parking lot and entered the waiting ride.

"_What was **that** all about?_" Kim was a little floored. In all the years that they had known each other Ron had never used that tone of voice with her. It wasn't his "angry" voice, she could still remember what it felt like to have Ron yell at her with hatred and hurt, it was something else – a tone that said, "_This is the way it's going to be and that's it._" It made her feel like a little kid when he talked to her like that and she instantly became aware of all the years in between them. Her boyfriend had seemingly matured into a man in just a matter of weeks and it would take Kim some time to come to grips with the fact that _her_ Ron had grown up into adult Ron without her looking.

Kim pivoted on her foot and took off after Ron towards the 'copter, leaping into the open bay door and grabbing onto a jump strap. Kim studied Ron while he rummaged through a box. She was frustrated. Kim couldn't decide if she _liked_ this new Ron or not. She had always been hoping that Ron would eventually grow up and find more direction for his life, not because he was a burden to her, but because she wanted the whole world to know just how special Ron Stoppable really was. She didn't like the fact that Ron never tried to do anything ambitious and she absolutely hated his reasons for slacking off. It wasn't that Ron was just lazy, Kim could deal with that, it was that Ron had actually believed that he _couldn't_ achieve anything on his own. It made Kim sort of angry how Ron ignored his God-given talents, like cooking for example, just because as he would say, "_It's not that big of a deal KP_".

To Kim, anything that Ronald Dean Stoppable did was a big deal.

Now it seemed that Ron had grown into the man that Kim had always suspected he could be and she was a little mystified about why she didn't immediately throw up her fists in victory. This was what she had wanted, right? A strong, take charge, certified hottie. Kim shook her head a little bit, there would be no easy answers to this question and she realized her mother was correct. She would have to take her time, not only for Ron's sake, but her own. First however, she needed to lay down some ground rules.

"Ron, this is how things are going to go down." Kim half yelled over the chopping rotors of the helicopter.

"I know you've changed, it's obvious just by looking at you, but I still lead the missions. Are you ok with that?" Kim asked.

Ron stopped his rummaging for a second and then turned his head over his shoulders and grinned at her, "No problem KP – one bon diggity ninja sidekick reporting for duty!"

Kim couldn't help but crack a grin. She had feared that she would never hear the ridiculous phrase, "bon diggity" again in her entire life. She was glad that she was wrong.

"OH BADICAL!" shouted Ron as he held up a garment to his chest.

That's all it took for Kim to break down into giggles. She had _really_ missed Ron.

"Wade brother, you have really come through for the Ron-man!" Ron held the garment out at arms length and looked at it. It was a battle suit, similar to Kim's, but a newer version – one of a pair of prototypes that Wade had been working on before Ron's disappearance.

"That was supposed to be a surprise Ron!" Kim laughed at him.

"Oh trust me, I _am_ surprised. I suspected something was up when Wade said _battle suits_, note the plural!" Ron reached down to his legs and began to take off his shoes.

Kim winked at Ron and saucily said, "Need any help with that Ronald?"

"Um… uh… well…" Ron started to stammer. He was so excited that he didn't even pause to think that he was in the process of getting naked in a helicopter flying above Middleton Colorado with his ex-girlfriend staring at him.

Kim laughed at him and just pushed him back down into his seat. Then she retrieved her own suit from the box and looked at Ron.

"Turn around Ron…. Unless of course, you don't _want_ to." Kim tossed a coy smile at Ron that made him blush furiously. Even though Ron did turn around, Kim was secretly pleased that even after all the time separated (from his perspective) she could at least still have _that_ effect on him.

Quickly Kim suited up and then turned around to see a sight that caused her to once again break into uncontrollable giggles.

"Ron! Oh my god…" she gasped for air as she laughed.

Ron had the bottom of his suit on and was struggling with the top of the one-piece garment. His arms were in the sleeves, but he couldn't get the shoulders up over his body.

"Um… I think maybe Wade goofed." Ron said dejectedly.

Kim looked at Ron and walked over to him and started to check the right sleeve of his suit.

"I doubt genius boy made a mistake, more likely you've packed on a few pounds since he took your measurements. All in the right places I must say!" That was a little over the top for Kim but she enjoyed making Ron blush. Eventually she found the small button on the cuff of his suit and pressed it, the material went lax and Ron's struggling arms were suddenly free of their stricture while the rest of the top expanded to give him more room.

"Wow, sweet!" said Ron as he finally was able to get the suit top over his chest.

"Yeah the suits not only self repair but you can control the shape and size of the material somewhat, think of it as an auto-fit feature – within limits of course." Kim looked at Ron as he zipped up his suit and then she placed her arms around him in a hug.

"KP?" Ron asked as he looked down at the mass of red curls right below his neck.

Kim slowly pulled away. "Just hugging my best friend, is that ok?"

Ron pulled her back in and did the same to her, she was a little surprised but he just looked at her and said, "Ditto."

They both chuckled and stood side by side in the helicopter as it made its final approach towards GJ headquarters. Their suits were obviously of the same make, but they were colored in different motifs. Kim's was her familiar white and blue pattern that she had worn ever since her first suit, although the design was slightly altered. Ron's on the other hand was something that looked more like a high-tech ninja, it was all matte black, even the piping and the neck was high. Ron noticed that he could pull it up to hide his face if he wanted to, which he thought was pretty damn cool. He took a moment to explore the pouches that were attached to his belt and his eyes went wide as he verbally counted off an inventory.

"Smoke bombs, caltrops, shuriken, throwing darts, aniseed packets, wire… Oh what do we have here?" Ron's voice rose in surprise and Kim bent over to try and peer into his pouch.

Ron pulled out several brown paper packets that were marked with Japanese kanji and studied them carefully.

"How the heck did Wade get a hold of this stuff?" Kim was about to take one from his hand to study it when Ron pulled it back.

"Ah ah ah! That's paralyzing powder Kim, super secret ninja formula. You probably want to be moving when we arrive." Ron chuckled as he put the packets back into his belt.

Kim's eyes went wide, how _did_ Wade get a hold of that.

Just then as Ron was replacing the packets, his fingers brushed against something in the bottom of the pouch and he removed it. Once he saw what it was he just started to laugh.

Kim looked at the small cellophane wrapped rectangle in Ron's hand.

"Ron is that some sort of ninja thing or… Ron, it kind of looks like candy?" Kim asked.

"That's because it _is_ candy. That's too funny." Ron chuckled.

"I don't get it – what's so funny?" Kim inquired.

"Ok, well when I arrived for my advanced training at Yamanouchi, it was the first time I was going to stay for any real length of time and because of this I could actually do a little sight seeing. One of those days Yori, Hiritoka and I went into town and we stopped at a sweet shop. Now you know how I am with candy, so I was going spazzy trying out everything I could find. Most of it was pretty badical, some of it was kind of so-so, but hey you can't have all winners. Anyway, I was munching down making an ass out of myself when Yori hands me these milk white candies. Now to my gaijin eyes they looked something like milk toffee so I plopped one into my mouth, biting down and slobbering all over it."

Kim was peering intently at Ron, waiting for him to finish his story.

"Anyway, as soon as I did that both Yori and Hirotaka started laughing their asses off. At first I didn't know why, but then it hit me – the taste! My brain was misfiring, here I was expecting some delicious milky sweetness and instead I was tasting…" Ron shuddered a little bit as he recalled the memory.

"Fish. Nasty, nasty, fish. It was fish candy. I gagged, I sputtered, I clawed at my neck. Everything I did just made those two jerks laugh more and pretty soon I was laughing too and choking on disgusting fish candy. I was so mad, I yelled at them 'What kind of sick bastards make candy out of fish?' That only made them laugh harder, even the shop keeper was cracking up at me."

At this point even Kim was laughing. She knew Ron pretty well and she could just imagine the hysterics he had gone through.

"Well after that, for the entire time I had left on that trip I kept finding fish candy everywhere. It would be in my pockets, in my bento, under my pillow, in my shoes. One time Yori actually made rice balls with fish candy in them. It was diabolical I tell you, but what that wasn't the worst thing." Ron eyed Kim who was quickly cracking up so hard she was watering at the eyes.

"When I went to leave, there was a small celebration, just us three and Master Sensei. At the end of the night, Master Sensei got up from his chair and said to me, 'Ron-san it is hard for us to see you go, but I want you to remember not only your teachings but your friends when you return to America'. He then reached behind his seat and presented me with a large box, wrapped in rice paper and with a bow on it. I figured it was a parting gift and I have to admit I teared up a little bit with emotion when I took it from him. Master Sensei smiled at me and patted me on the hand while I opened it only to be faced with my worst nightmare."

Kim at this point was bawling and she exclaimed, "Fish candy!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "That's right KP – a gigantic, economy sized, ten year supply of fish candy. It seemed that those two jokers had told Master Sensei that I absolutely _loved_ fish candy. I started crying on the spot and Master Sensei thought I was overcome with emotion. The worst part was I had to sit there and eat one in front of him so he wouldn't be offended at me not accepting his gift." Ron smiled a little bit at the memory. At the time he didn't think it was that funny, but now it seemed like one of the most precious experiences of his life.

"Well, I guess I know how Wade got his hands on some ninja original formula now." Ron smirked.

He then unwrapped the cellophane package and took out one of the candies, tearing at the thin paper wrapper. Kim stared intently at him as he took the candy and popped it into his mouth, rolling it across his tongue and raising his eyebrow, like he was seriously lost in thought.

"So?" Kim asked with curiosity.

Ron made a terrible face and spit the candy out, "Oh God, STILL NASTY!"

-

The ground beneath Shego's bare feet literally exploded with each step she took. The energy that flowed freely from her body generally whipped up around her like actual flames, but there was still enough on the soles of her feet that she pulverized anything she stood on. It was like she was walking across a minefield and her foot falls were punctuated with exploding bombs.

Global Justice had been throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at her since she arrived at their perimeter, but it was to no avail. Their weapons couldn't penetrate the cosmic aura around her body and her own attacks blew through their forces like they were chaff before the wind. A small army of synthodrones were fanned out behind her, but they were not taking any enemy fire. GJ knew that they were at best a distraction and not even worth wasting time on, the green flamed villainess on the other hand was literally giving them back their asses on a silver platter.

A large attack helicopter flew overhead and swiveled around to bring its missile platform to bear, but Shego was faster. She just raised her right fist in its general direction and it was knocked from the air in a torrent of green fire.

"_Just digging the hole deeper aren't I? Just more crimes to pay for, just another entry on my rap sheet. Even if my child is born, is it going to have a mother around that can take care of it?_"

The news of Shego's impending motherhood had changed her perspective on her life in ways that she hadn't really considered before. If she had been made aware of her pregnancy when she was still back in time with Ron she would have been thrilled. After all, she wasn't a criminal there and she would have been free to live out her life with her child in the way that she deemed fit. Here however in the future she was a criminal, a villain, one of the most wanted people on the planet. Even if she was able to birth her son or daughter, she would spend a life hiding herself and her child from the police and other authorities. What kind of life would that be for her child, and what would happen to her baby if the powers that be separated them?

A group of agents fired on Shego from behind a low ruined wall, their bullets were being vaporized before they could get within three feet of her. She returned their fire, purposely low so that she would bring up a shower of rock and dirt that would throw them back, without hopefully killing anyone. The power was hard to control and she knew that just a moment of unrestraint on her part would add murder to her litany of crimes. Still, she needed that microchip and she knew exactly how far she would go to get it and what exactly she would do to ensure the survival of her unborn child.

Shego pushed forward through the rubble and blasted more of the building in front of her to bits. After the smoke and dust cleared, the inner guts of Global Justice Headquarters laying bare to the world. Agents in full body armor with heavy assault weapons arrived on the scene from an undamaged hallway and took up firing positions. The bullets were useless against Shego's new energy aura and the sound the bullets made as they exploded against her protective shield was similar to a mosquito being exploded on a bug zapper. Shego looked at the men and women, they were blocking her entrance to the part of the building where the microchip was being held. She could blast them to pieces, but she didn't want their deaths on her hands – there was something about carrying a life inside her that made her not want to taint her innocent child with the blood of others. Instead she brought her whole profile to face the agents and then she started to advance on them, slowly at first and then gaining speed until she was in a flat out run.

The agents started kept up their fire but as Shego's snapping energy tendrils got closer and closer to them eventually they started to break, to fall back and then finally to run. One of the men was too slow and he was literally buffeted into the air like a rag doll tossed by a child. Shego winced a little bit as the man's body bounced off a ruined wall and fell still on the ground.

"_That wasn't my fault, he could have moved._"

The hall was more or less clear at this point, she had broken the spirits of the GJ agents once they realized that she was immune to their weaponry and that getting within melee distance of her was a one way ticket to oblivion. She tried to halt her little sprint, but the effects of her energy on the floor tiles made it feel like she was running on loose gravel and she stumbled a little bit as she tried to slow her motion. Eventually she came to a complete stop and looked around at her surroundings.

Shego had been in GJ headquarters a hand full of times before, usually as a prisoner, but she had some sort of basic understanding of the layout. This information was further augmented by blueprints that Drakken had been able to procure before this mission, so she had a good idea of where she was and where she needed to go.

"_The labs are ahead, through the containment doors. The sirens mean that they have initiated the lock down. What was it that Drakken said, five foot thick titanium walls and doors?_"

Shego looked at her arms, the green fire was swirling and billowing off her form, snapping at the air like the staccato sound of firecrackers. Before this unexplained change in her physiology it would have taken her hours to break through a barrier like the one that surrounded the experimental GJ labs, but with her new power level she felt confident that she could shred these obstacles like they were made out of paper.

The hallway was dark, the emergency lighting was off but Shego didn't need it to see. Her own body cast an iridescent green glow on the walls and ceiling, it was enough for her to find her way. A scant minute later she came upon her objective and she paused to size up the task that was before her. The door was massive, as big as a hangar door, and Shego knew it was solid titanium. She raised her hands up in front of her and then forced the power to crawl from her body and to her hands. Soon the writhing mass of energy was whipping and snaking out before her. With a final mental push she willed it to leap out and push against the door.

The sound of her energy meeting the metal door was atrocious. It sounded like the wail of banshees as her cosmic powers shredded into the thick metal and started to rip it apart. Flecks and chunks of super heated metal spun off in front of her, some errant pieces hitting her energy field and being vaporized nearly instantly.

"_This is harder than I thought it would be…I gotta keep up the pressure._"

She concentrated more, pushing more of her energy into the attack and gritting her teeth. The renewed assault burned through the door and Shego could see the metal surrounding her contact point starting to glow with heat, she could even feel it on her skin. Evidently the energy that protected her from physical assaults didn't block heat and probably wouldn't block other forms of energy either. It was something that she took note of; it was a weakness in her protective armor.

Shego was almost through the door when suddenly her vision dimmed and her head swam a little bit. The chore of concentrating her power was starting to effect her physically and she was tempted to bring it back in for a moment, but she was worried that she was running out of time. She might be immune to standard small arms fire, but if they started to bring out RPG's or LAW's against her, she didn't know if the heat or concussive blasts would knock her out. She was a little thankful that decades ago the U.S. Army had removed most flame throwers from standard issue and that energy weapons weren't wildly distributed to various agencies. Still, it would only be a matter of time till they would start looking to these types of weapons to bring her down and she needed to be long gone before they could react like that.

With a final push she broke through the door, a small two-foot wide opening at first which she widened until she was able to climb through without touching the super heated edges. She broke off her attack on the door and then took a deep breath to try and clear her head. The power was stronger than it used to be, but Shego had realized that her body and hence her ability to control the power hadn't really gotten stronger with it. She knew that she could push out more energy than she had during blasting the door apart, but she also instinctively knew that if she tried it, she'd probably knock herself unconscious – or worse. It was a risk she couldn't take given the precious life she was carrying around within her.

Having recovered her breath and senses, she leapt through the opening she had made and landed with an explosive blast on the metal floor of the experimental labs. Her vision panned across the room looking for targets, but she didn't see anything…

There was a flash of blue crackling energy off to her right and she was barely able to scamper out of the way on all fours as it flew by her body. Almost on instinct she tossed out a volley of plasma blasts in the direction the attack had come from while she pin wheeled around to face the threat.

"Nice try Princess…" she growled as she finally caught sight of the auburn red hair of her attacker as she repositioned herself behind some large metal crates.

Shego didn't want to have to deal with Kim Possible, even if the heroine couldn't physically attack her like usual, it seemed that Kim was one step ahead of the normal flat foots and had figured out that Shego might not be so invulnerable to energy weapons. The danger of the situation had skyrocketed and Shego was determined not to fail.

"This is a new low in villainy, even for you Shego. I mean, seriously, adding public indecency to breaking and entering? You're a sick, sick, woman." Kim taunted as she rolled in between two crates, launching blue energy from a rifle that she carried in her arms.

"What's wrong Kimmie? Maybe you _like_ what you see?" wise cracked Shego as she dodged the incoming attack from Kim.

Shego knew she could blast the crate that Kim was hiding behind into oblivion, and possibly Kim as well, but she didn't want to take any chances. She launched her plasma at the red haired woman, but instead of aiming directly at Kim she blasted the catwalk above her, sending it and the storage boxes on top of it crashing down on top of the woman.

"_Where are those god damn goo-men? I just need to stall Princess until they get here._"

Shego caught some movement from the pile of boxes, evidently she hadn't knocked Kim out. She backed up, preparing to launch another attack and was surprised when instead of pushing away the debris, Kim Possible launched straight up from the middle like a swimmer emerging from a dive.

"What the hell?" barked Shego as she tried to track Kim's acrobatic movements with her plasma blasts.

"Synthetic muscle fibers, built right into the suit. See, there _are_ some advantages to wearing clothes!" Kim snickered as she did a back flip over a piece of the fallen catwalk. She had lost her rifle under the debris and she didn't have anything with which to directly attack Shego, so she was doing her best to just annoy the woman while she formulated a plan.

Shego internally breathed a sigh of relief as the first of the synthodrones finally made their appearance in the room. Out of the twenty or so that had originally arrived with her, she saw about a bakers dozen had managed to survive. It was plenty, more than enough actually, to transport the microchip back to Drakken. She moved forward, putting her body in between them and Kim while she continued to blast away. Kim seemed to be concentrating solely on avoiding Shego's attacks and while normally that would frustrate her, under the current circumstances she was only playing directly into Shego's hand.

The synthodrones were running across the room behind Shego, heading towards the area of the lab where the microchip was stored. The first three to cross the middle of the room halted their jog and then shuddered. Shego whipped her head around only to see that each one of them had sprung a small leak in their chest and the synthetic goo that kept them animated was leaking on to the floor.

Shego was half-heartedly keeping the pressure on Kim with random, poorly aimed, plasma bolts while she really focused her attention on the drones. About 10 of the synthetic men were still ambulatory and they looked around with her, trying to find the source of the attack. They didn't have to wait long as two more of their number fell over, convulsing and spilling their insides on to the floor. The drones might not be able to catch on to what was happening, but Shego knew as soon as she saw the small metal spike flying through the air.

"RON!" she screamed. Shego forgot about Kim and launched herself into the space in between where she thought the ninja was hiding and her remaining drones. She guessed correctly and she heard the familiar snapping sound as the tiny airborne projectiles Ron was throwing exploded against her energy sheathe as she intercepted them.

Ron breathed out a deep breath and strode forward from his hiding spot to face Shego. He had so many things running through his mind he could barely decide what he wanted to do first. His plan, be it as it may, was to hang back and let Kim deal with Shego while he took down the synthodrones. It was a selfish plan and he realized in retrospect sort of foolish as well. He didn't want to fight Shego, but he had a job to do and what she was doing right now wasn't exactly something that Ron could just turn away from. Leveling the headquarters of the worlds foremost justice authority was sort of a big deal in anyone's book.

Ron stood about ten feet away from Shego now and neither of them said a word. Kim was half watching the confrontation while she moved back to where she had originally been trapped under the boxes and if Shego had been paying any attention to her she would have realized that Kim was trying to recover her experimental weapon. As it was, Shego's eyes were locked firmly onto the soft brown eyes of the man before her, the man that was the father of her unborn child and the man that she suspected she was in love with.

Ron was the first one to break the silence.

"Shego, are you alright?" He looked her body up and down but not in a lustful way - the green flames billowing forth from her nude form and the way they snapped and swirled around her entranced him.

"Do I look OK? I'm naked and burning in the middle of GJ Headquarters," It came out harsher than Shego had intended but her emotions were raw and she was having a hard time reining them in.

"Point taken, stupid question on my part," Ron said as he moved closer to her, stopping just a foot out of the reach of the energy that surrounded Shego.

"Please Ron, don't… don't come any closer. I can't turn it off, you'll get hurt," Shego actually backed up a step as she said this. She wasn't taking any chances.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, "Why are you doing this? It just… doesn't make sense. I was so _sure_ you were going to put this life behind you."

Shego looked at Ron for a moment, measuring her words, wondering how much she should say, fearing that he was trying to play her again.

"I wanted to, but I couldn't. There's something I need very badly and it's here. Also…"

Shego couldn't continue to look at his eyes, she turned her head to the side and continued.

"There isn't anything else for me in this life. I'm a wanted woman, a criminal, a villainess. I'm Shego, not some girl playing at being a lady."

Ron caught the tone in her voice. It was a mixture of anger and regret with a strong undercurrent of self-denial. He didn't like it, not one bit.

"You'll always be Bella to me," Ron said in a hushed tone.

Shego looked up from the ground and stared at him hard. It took all the self control she had to make sure that she locked her gaze on his while she spoke.

"You hurt me," she stated.

"It hurts to be without you," he replied.

"You lied to me," she accused.

"I lied to myself when I thought I wouldn't fall in love with you," he rejoined.

"You used me," she choked over the words, his round about confession of love having touched her troubled heart.

"I'll spend the rest of our lives making up for it," Ron said with finality. He had never been so sure of anything he had said before in his life. He'd do whatever he had to for her.

Shego was crying softly at this point, her tears were vaporizing the moment they dropped from her eyes. She wanted to close those few feet between them and throw herself into his arms, she cursed her power for the millionth time in her life – not only was it keeping her from being held by the man she loved it was jeopardizing the life of their unborn child.

"_The child…_"

"Ron! There is something I need to tell you, its very important…" Shego's voice was cut off by the strange sound of energy splitting the molecules of the air.

Kim wasn't able to understand what Ron and Shego were talking about, their voices were too low and she was too far away to make it out. She'd have to ask Ron what he did later to get Shego to stop attacking, but for now she was going to capitalize on the opportunity her "partner" had bought her. She had managed to eventually find the rifle she had lost when Shego dumped the wall on top of her and Kim took aim at the pack of remaining synthodrones that were hanging back behind Shego. She had wanted to take a direct shot at the villain, but she was standing so close to Ron that it was unlikely she could do so without injuring him or causing Shego to move into him and probably doing more damage than the energy blast from the rifle.

The first three synthodrones exploded in buckets of goo before Shego was able to give them the order to scatter. Ron futilely shouted out, "Kim wait!" but if she heard him or not, he didn't know because she continued to fire, dropping three more of the drones before the rest had managed to find whatever limited cover existed.

"Shego don't…" Ron wanted to reach out and grab her arm, but he knew that he couldn't touch her in her current state. He had to sit there helplessly as the woman he loved launched a devastating energy barrage at his best friend forever. Ron had been dimly aware that eventually he would have to make _some_ kind of choice between Shego and Kim, but he was hoping it wouldn't have been under a circumstance like this. Of course, like nearly everything in Ron Stoppable's life, _nothing_ was ever easy.

Shego bolted to the right as Kim continued to fire towards here. An energy blast passed harmlessly wide to Shego's left and took out another drone and Shego let out a low growl.

"STOP THAT!" she barked as she continued to lay down green fire at Kim.

Kim ducked and rolled through Shego's blasts, gaining her feet at the end and laying down her own fire that forced the woman to take evasive action.

"Oh, does that upset you Kermit? I'd say you should find better friends, but you seem like the kind of girl that probably spends _a lot_ of time with her mechanical boyfriend," Kim was being nasty to Shego, maybe a lot nastier than she had previously. Part of it she chalked up to being older and a little more jaded and foul mouthed, but part of it she knew was because there was just _something_ about the way she had interacted with Ron that Kim plain didn't like.

Kim purposely went out of her way to gun down two more synthodrones and Shego had intentionally moved herself between Kim and the last remaining drone.

"Ron!" she yelled, "I can't let her take out this last drone, if she does we're in serious trouble."

Ron didn't understand what Shego meant. He had spent the last minute just standing around and watching the fight unfold since he didn't really want to take a side – he knew he could use the excuse that he didn't have an energy weapon to cover for the fact that he didn't do anything but chill out while the two were fighting, but secretly he was glad that the decision had more or less been taken out of his hands that way.

"Ron!" Shego said desperately, Kim was bearing down on her with more energy blasts and Shego knew that soon she was going to have to make a choice to move or not – either one probably being a death sentence to her unborn child.

Ron was temporarily shaken out of his indecision, at least enough to ask a decent question.

"What do you mean by that? Who's 'we'? You and Drakken? You and Me?" It probably sounded bad, but Ron needed to know what was up if he was going to have a chance of getting Kim to stop.

Shego went to respond to Ron but it was too late, the energy blast was coming in and Shego's battle hardened senses could almost see it approaching at slow motion. She twisted her body to the left, letting the bolt fly past her and directly into the idiot drone that exploded with a loud "flush" of goo onto the floor.

"_Fucking worthless things! Wait… there's still a chance for us!_"

Shego looked at Ron. Maybe this was fate's way of saying that in the end she would have to rely on him even if she hadn't wanted to.

"Ron I'm – " Shego's voice was cut off as she lost her footing. She had moved to avoid another one of Kim's blasts and had accidentally slipped on a pool of syntho-goo, sending her to her knees. The drop knocked the air out of her and her eyes opened wide as she noticed that Kim had already drew a bead on her.

"_This is it, it's over for us… sorry little one._"

Shego braced herself for the shock and pain that was sure to come. She didn't know if she would survive the blast from the weapon, especially the way she was currently hunched over, exposing her head and upper chest to the beam. She heard the report of the gun launching it's blast at her and she shrewdly calculated that even if the weapon wasn't lethal, there was a good chance that it would probably cause enough involuntary muscle spasms and pain that she'd unintentionally abort her nascent pregnancy. In this situation, even the "best case" scenario was the end of a dream for her.

"RON!" two voices yelled in unison. It had taken them both a second to realize what had happened, not only because they couldn't understand it at first, but because it was something that neither of them had ever expected.

Ron Stoppable stood between Shego and Kim, his hands outstretched and smoking as the energy charge dissipated from his suit. Wade Load had once again proved just how much of an intellectual giant he was as the energy absorption qualities he had built into these latest battle suits worked flawlessly. Ron had felt his hands shake a little bit when they had made contact with the bolt, but he was pleasantly surprised that except for a little tingling, the attack had not caused him any discomfort at all.

"You're what Shego?" Ron asked.

"Pregnant," she stated as she used her hands to raise herself from the floor.

"Congratul…" Ron began to say, then his mind actually started to work and he stopped his sentence only to continue with a new one.

"Wait, does that mean that – "

"Hi Daddy," Shego hadn't meant to be so sarcastic about delivering the news, but old habits die hard, and besides – Ron was cute when he looked baffled.

"Wow," was all he said.

"Ron! What the hell are you doing?" The voice belonged to Kim who was on the other side of the lab and obviously _very_ upset at what he had just done.

"Um… Wait a minute KP, this is really important!" Ron yelled back at her, he then turned to Shego.

"You know this means we _really_ have to talk this out. Pregnant ladies probably shouldn't have missile launchers or blaster rifles pointed at them."

"Ron, step away from Shego. She's a villain, or haven't you noticed the fact that GJ Headquarters is practically in ruins?" The tone of Kim's voice was a mixture of bewilderment at Ron's antics and down right irritation at being denied her victory. It was classic KP.

"Short version – "Shego began, "My power is out of control and it's hurting the baby. I need a microchip from here so Drakken can build something to help me. I want the baby Ron, even if you don't."

Ron was a little hurt by that last comment so he spoke without thinking.

"Hey! Did I say that I didn't want the baby? Look, I'm not some stupid teenager who wants to give you 50 bucks and a ride to Planned Parenthood – "

Shego caught the annoyance in his voice, "Sorry… it's just that I'm _really_ serious about this. I'll do anything and I mean _anything_ to protect this kid."

Ron grinned at her, his famous grin that she had missed a lot.

"Good, then we're on the same page. Let me handle Kim…" Ron started to move towards Kim but Shego spoke to him.

"Ron, I can't hold the chip, I'll destroy it. There is a hovercraft coming to pick me up and it'll be here in a minute, we don't have time to reason with Kim." Shego's voice was desperate and the sound of it froze Ron in his tracks.

"RONALD DEAN STOPPABLE!" came the extremely irate voice of one Kim Possible.

"Um… Kim, sorry it's just… Look we have to help Shego, ok? She's pregnant and…"

"I don't care Ron! She is going in and doing her time and it'll be better for her _and_ the baby if she goes quietly." Kim's voice was practically dripping venom at this point, for some reason she couldn't understand she was losing control of her emotions.

Ron turned to face the raven-haired villainess.

"Shego, GJ could help you – just as easily as Drakken could, probably even better." Ron knew it was a desperate ploy, but he was concerned about the safety of Shego and his child and he wasn't sure he could keep Kim from trying to blast them both with her rifle.

"They'll take the baby from me Ron. I can't let them take the baby from me," Shego's voice cracked with emotion, she could solely feel her dream slipping from her grasp.

Ron thought for a second and then made the hardest choice in his life, one that he knew he was going to regret in one way or another for as long as he lived.

"Where's the chip?" he asked.

Shego blinked and then pointed her hand to her left. Ron's eyes followed her finger and saw the clear plastic case against the wall.

"Ok, stall, I'll get it" he said as he leapt towards the case while Shego leapt in the opposite direction. This was the opportunity that Kim was waiting for and she resumed her firing. Shego was hard pressed to avoid the rifle blasts but what Ron did next bought her some time.

There was a loud crashing sound and Kim paused for a moment.

"Ron! Will you stop messing around?" Kim barked at the top of her lungs. She could hardly believe it, here they were in the middle of GJ's ruined headquarters and Ron was _still_ breaking stuff, not that there was much left for him to break.

"_God, at least some things never change!_" Kim was about to draw her vision back to Shego when what she saw shocked her.

Ron had reached into the case that he had just destroyed and removed a small object. He held it in his hand for a moment and then much to Kim's surprise he pocketed it in his belt.

"What are you doing Ron?" she yelled as she turned to face him completely.

Ron turned around and pulled the mask of his suit up so it covered his mouth, making him look completely like a ninja.

"Um… felony larceny?" he said.

"That's not funny Ron! We have to stop Shego before she…" Kim stopped mid-sentence as she saw Shego sprint from her hiding place and start to bolt for the door.

"Oh no you don't!" she yelled as she started to fire off energy blasts at the fleeing villainess. Two shots of hers went wild and when she went finally drew a bead on her for the third shot the trigger of the rifle clicked but nothing happened.

"_Oh for Christ's sake!_" Kim mentally swore.

Ron was running for the door, probably running after Shego, but Kim intercepted him at the door.

"Ron, give it to me, whatever it is," she demanded as she blocked egress from the room.

"Sorry, no can do KP. I need to hold this for Shego. Look let me explain…"

Kim couldn't take it any more and she flipped out.

"RON! Stop this right now, that's _Shego_ – you know, enemy? You're not stealing something for her no matter what, even if she is pregnant. Give that to me and if we're not too late we can get another rifle from the helicopter and chase her down before she wrecks half the city."

"Kim, just listen to me for a moment…" Ron tried to interject.

"No! I am not listening to you! You are doing what I say – we had a deal, I'm the mission leader and you're the…" Kim grasped around for a word and in her anger found it.

"You're just the damn _sidekick_!"

Kim instantly regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth. She didn't need to see the look of disappointment on Ron's face in order for her to feel ashamed at herself. She didn't mean those words, at least she didn't think that she did – she had never really even used it to herself in her own head when thinking about Ron, but now that she was angry they just sort of slipped out.

"Sorry KP," Ron said with palatable sadness in his voice.

Kim didn't even really see what happened next, it was literally too fast for her eye to track. Ron had somehow made a move that she couldn't follow and had gotten behind her She felt her arms being pinned behind her back by one of his hands and his other hand had gone across her neck and put her in a restricting chokehold. She tried to struggle, tried to use her legs to flip him over, tried to shake him every way that she knew but Ron's grip wouldn't give up. She couldn't even speak in an attempt to talk him out of it.

Ron waited until he felt Kim's body go limp in his arms, then he gently laid her down on the ground and checked her pulse.

"_Good – still strong._"

He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't have much of a choice. Even if he had pushed her aside and ran after Shego, Kim would be hot on their heels and that wasn't something that he could afford right now.

As he turned around to run down the darkened hallway to catch up to the mother of his child he had one thought that repeated itself over and over in his mind. It seemed to be the source of all the problems he had ever had with Kim and it hung over him like a noose on the gallows.

"_Why can't you ever trust me KP?_"

-

A/N: Right, wow. I had a lot of trouble finishing off this chapter, there were so many ways I could have gone with this and I had to choose the one that would fit the situation and the upcoming plot best. I chose to go with _not_ revealing to Kim what the cause of Ron's assisting Shego was, so that I could have a little fun with the misunderstanding as well as to highlight again for people who are feeling soft for Kimmie what her real issue with Ron is as well as why she can't fix it just by feeling bad. Harsh? Maybe. In line with the character I wrote? Definitely.

Anyway, not a lot to say here except the story goes on. Next chapter we have Ron meeting Drakken (Who probably still wont remember his name), Kim searching for Ron and the reintroduction of a certain simian enemy and the final major plot twist of the story.

Oh and finally – The whole thing with the fish candy, if it sounds pretty realistic, that's because it is. Alter the story to not include ninja's and it's pretty much identical to a real life experience that I've personally had. And yes, they make fish candy and yes, it is completely and utterly nasty.

So there we have it for chapter 15 I guess folks. Just a few more left to go I reckon until this fiction is in the can, and I promise I am working up to a satisfying ending.

Once again, thanks for reading and reviewing!

QC

PS: This chapter marks a milestone of sorts – I've finally reached over 100 reviews. So happy!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Confessions at 40,000 feet.

The trip from GJ Headquarters to Drakkens latest secret lair was fraught with emotion and a sharing of secrets. Ron had wanted to come clean to Shego long before they had ended up in this situation and he tried to make that clear to her. He wanted her to believe, to _know_ that the fact that she was carrying his child wasn't what had made up his mind. He wanted her to know that his mind had been made up even long before they had made love for the first and only time.

Ron's tale was long and the craft that was carrying him and Shego was well over the ocean by the time he finally wound down. Shego for her part had barely interrupted, it was partly because she was happy to once again be with him and also because Ron was filling in so many things that made sense.

"So… you and Iris?" Shego asked.

Ron just nodded. "One life time, does that bother you? The woman that you knew isn't exactly the one that I married. I know it's sort of confusing…"

Shego shook her head, "No, it's just… I can see it. I could always tell that she loved you and I think we both made each other a little jealous. I'm ok with it, I suppose it's the same as falling in love with a man who was a widower?"

"That's… a pretty accurate way of putting it, it's how I see things myself. My wife died, my heart was broken, I grieved for a life time and I never thought I would love anyone ever again."

Ron looked fondly at Shego.

"I was wrong of course, incredibly wrong."

She smiled back at him, not saying a single word. She didn't think there was much more she could add to the conversation about Iris, and truthfully a little and slightly jealous part of her wanted to drop it. The jealousy didn't last however, all Shego had to do was remember the kindness of the older woman and she felt that if Ron had ever loved a woman other than her, then at least it was someone that she would have approved of.

"Shego, this is just so… insane. I know I love you, I really, really do. I just can't believe I'm doing this, but here I am all the same. Just do me one favor please?" Ron asked.

Shego was sitting down in her portable containment chamber, leaning against the glass on her side with her head against Ron's, separated only by the magnetically infused clear walls.

"What Ron?" she asked almost dreamily. She was tired, exhausted both physically and emotionally.

"Quit Drakken. This isn't the kind of life for our child; this isn't the kind of life where we can be together. You have to know that," Ron said.

Shego sighed. She knew this was coming and she wanted to agree with him, she had a fantasy that they would run off together, hide from the world and live out their lives as a family. She didn't think it could happen.

"I want to Ron, it's just not that easy," she finally said.

"Does Drakken have something over you? Are you worried about GJ? I might not be able to get us the perfect life Shego but I can do a lot. More than you think maybe." Ron raised his hand to the side of the glass and placed it against Shego's body.

Shego smiled at Ron. She knew that he wasn't boasting, just merely telling the truth. Ron had pull with various governments; he had friends in high places that owed him favors, or even their lives. They might not be able to live in the United States, but there was certainly a few places left on Earth where two people who wanted to get lost, could stay lost – probably for the rest of their lives.

"It's just complicated. I'm not saying no, I'm just saying… I need to think about it some more. The baby comes first and for that right now I need Drew's help."

Ron twisted his face a little bit. The idea that his unborn child was at the mercy of a moron like Dr. Drakken was hard for him to handle. He'd try to present Shego with another option, even though he knew what she would say.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but have you seriously considered what I said earlier? You know, going to Global Justice and explaining the situation…"

"I can't!" Shego spat out. Ron shrank a little bit and she regretted the tone of her voice.

"I'm sorry, I just can't do that. They'll separate us, they'll take the baby from me." Shego said, her voice quaking with emotion.

"You don't know that for sure." Ron said.

Shego shot him a look that he intimately was familiar with, "_What, are you stupid?_" He had seen it from various people his entire life and Ron had to admit that perhaps in this case he actually deserved it. Still, he wanted to hold out some hope of having a relatively normal life with Shego and their baby.

"Alright then, if we're going to do this then let's do it right," he finally said.

Ron unzipped the front of his battle suit and lowered the top down around his waist. Then he reached into a pouch on his belt and removed an extremely sharp throwing knife.

"What are you doing?" asked Shego.

"Wade had me chipped a long time ago. A subcutaneous tracking device in my skin, it's right over here…" Ron grunted as he jabbed the end of the throwing knife under the skin of his shoulder. His face was contorted in pain as he worked the blade back and forth, digging into his flesh.

"It was deactivated, but I don't trust that kid totally. There's probably a way to remotely turn it back on, or some backup failsafe, or something like that. It's better that it's gone."

Ron stopped his jerky hand movements for a second and then started to be more careful.

"Ah, there we are…" he grunted as he levered the knife against some unknown object and then pulled back slowly, "and… it's out."

Ron held the device in between his thumb and forefinger; it was dripping with blood and small bits of fat and scar tissue hung to it. He placed it on the ground of the hovercraft and then stabbed it with his throwing spike. He looked at it again on the ground and then stabbed it one more time, maybe it was for good measure or maybe it was a statement about what he had thought about the device all along.

"Well, Ron Stoppable is officially M.I.A." he said and then snickered.

"What's so funny?" Shego asked.

"I was just thinking, they'll probably blame you for _this_ too," he said as he pulled his suit top back on so it's advanced material could stem the flow of the blood in his shoulder.

"Normally I wouldn't care, but now that I think about it, it's totally unfair," Shego was almost pouting when she said this.

"It's ok, I'll testify at your trial." Ron smirked at Shego as he sat back down in front of her.

"Who said anything about a trial? I'm just annoyed that I'm 'kidnapping' you and I don't even get to have any fun…" Shego said this coyly and with a look that spoke intimately to Ron what her intention behind those words were.

Ron blinked for a second and then stared dumbly at Shego while he went, "Oh, _damn it_!"

Shego laughed at the look on his face, she had slowly over the months come to appreciate Ron's personality quirks.

"You just… realized it, didn't you?" She asked while giggling.

"Wow, the universe is so freaking unfair." Ron pouted, then his eyes brightened up for a minute.

"So what exactly does Drakken need me to steal for this little invention of his?" he grinned at her.

"Ron Stoppable! Who knew you could be so easily tempted to the dark side?" Shego laughed.

"Well, it's not like I could sit here staring at you and um… your obvious lack of clothes without you know, thinking, wishing, hoping, um… fantasizing… you know what I mean. Rawr!" Ron was laying the goofiness down hard and he was rewarded by a fit of giggles from Shego.

"I'm pregnant!" She teased him.

Ron pretended to think for a moment and then he said, "I think I read someplace that it's good for pregnant women. In fact I'm pretty sure I read that, probably even in a book…"

"We'll see if you say that in seven months when I'm as big as a house!" Shego stuck her tongue out at Ron.

"Are you kidding me? I think pregnant women are hot, especially ones that are carrying my Ron Jr." he laughed.

"Oh, is it Ron Jr. now? How do you know it won't be a girl…" she teased him.

Suddenly a look of fear came over Ron's face and he muttered absent mindedly, "I better learn how to build a space probe…"

"What?" Shego asked.

"Oh, nothing dear… Hey, you know what this means right?" Ron asked.

Shego raised her eyes and ventured a guess, "That we're both crazy?"

Ron smirked. "Asides from the obvious – I'll give you a hint, how does Mrs. Stoppable sound to you?"

Shego looked stunned for a moment and then sobbed. A look of panic came over Ron's face.

"Wait, wait, sorry… I thought, well… I really love you, I love the idea of being a father and it just seemed like the natural thing to say and…" Ron stammered.

"You're so unfair," Shego said in between sobs.

"Huh?" Ron cursed himself for being so unsmooth.

"Why did you ask me now? I can't even kiss you…" Shego looked up and smiled at Ron, placing both of her hands against the glass. Ron repeated the gesture and even though the mechanical contraption separated their physical bodies, their hearts had probably never been closer.

"So is that a yes?" asked Ron.

"If you can find a Rabbi that'll marry you to a super criminal it is," Shego smirked at him.

"A Rabbi? Hey are you…"

"Go – Goldstein," she stated.

Ron laughed.

"Hey, what's so funny about that?" Shego asked with a pout on her face.

Eventually Ron regained control and began to speak again.

"It's just that… I can't believe my mom was right." Ron gasped out.

"About what?" she asked.

"Well, Mom always said that there was a nice Jewish girl waiting for me out there… oh man is she going to flip when I tell her, especially the part about being a grandmother."

Shego suddenly looked worried, "Ron is your family going to be ok with this… I don't want to separate you from them, but I can't just let you go either… I need you."

Ron's smile softened and he spoke to her in a soothing manner, "It's ok – either way. My parents are good people and they'll come around eventually. Hey like I said, at least you're Jewish – that already gives you a good point in my Mom's book."

Ron seemed to think of something.

"Oh, I always wanted to know this, so tell me – Sheena? Sheila? Shoshanna? Sharon? Shannon? Um…. Let's see, more 'Sh' names…"

Shego rolled her eyes at him.

"Why does everyone think that? I mean, seriously – what gives people that idea, it's so… cliché."

"What? You just told me that Go was for Goldstein, how's that?" Ron asked.

"Hego's idea, and not a brilliant one if I may add. We took a vote and I lost, it just seemed appropriate since we lived in _Go City_ of all places. At the time I honestly thought that was the link that most people would go with, I mean it makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Alright, I gotcha. So are you going to spill or what? You can't keep a secret like that from your future husband, do you want me calling you Shego in front of the kids?"

Shego wrinkled her nose at him, she actually found that idea pretty distasteful.

"Just… don't laugh. I hate my name," she said.

"I promise I wont laugh," Ron stated with all solemnity.

"Ok then…" Shego breathed out deeply and then plunged ahead.

"Cornelia Goldstein," she finally said.

Ron just sat there, a blank and unreadable expression on his face.

"Oh come on! It's not _that_ bad. A little dated… ok _really_ dated, but I was named after my mothers grandmother, so it's a family name and there really wasn't anything to do about it and…"

Ron cut off Shego's rambling, "No, it's not that… it's just that I'm frankly _stunned_. You have no idea how many hours I've spent wondering what your name was. Kim and I used to sometimes play 'Guess Shego's Name' while we were eating at Bueno Nacho and let me tell you we came up with some real obscure ones. I just never would have guessed…"

Ron seemed lost in thought for a moment and then he grinned.

"It's ok, I think it's a great name… _Corny_," Ron said impishly.

Shego just slapped her head to her hand and Ron was positive that he heard her mutter an expletive in Yiddish.

"What, you don't like that one? How about just Corn, or maybe Cornball, Corndog, Cornster…"

"Don't make me a widow before I'm married Ron!" Shego said with mock anger.

"Oh, ok… so I guess just Cornelia then?" Ron asked.

Shego frowned and thought for a moment, "You know I _really_ don't like that name. I never thought it fit me and it just brings back a lot of bad memories."

Ron bit his lip while he pondered the situation. "Well, what then? What should I call you? I'm serious about wanting to take 'Shego' out back and bury her, I hope you are too…"

Shego nodded at Ron. "You wont get any argument from me on that one. If we manage to get out of this colossal mess somehow I don't want to be reminded of Shego for as long as I live."

Shego smiled at Ron.

"Bella, call me Bella. I love that name and… I love the man who gave it to me."

Ron was overcome with a fuzzy warmth as he sat there staring at the lovely creature before him.

"Alright Bella, I kind of like that name too. Just… please call me Ron and not Tim, ok? I don't like that person too much, he did a lot of bad things to people I love…" Ron was overcome with emotion and he wiped away a single tear from his eye.

Shego caught the motion and she consented to him silently. She pressed the side of her face against the glass containment device.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this… but I'm really happy I fell in love with Ron Stoppable."

They sat there for long moments in silence, just enjoying the fact that they were once again reunited in their hearts. The mood was thick with longing and unspoken emotions, but neither one of them wanted to break the spell. Eventually a light on the hovercraft dashboard began to light up and an incessant beeping began to sound.

Shego sighed and then spoke, "We're here. Time to get out and face Drakken… I wonder what he's going to do."

Ron leaned back and shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't really matter. He probably won't recognize me anyway, that guy has some sort of mental block when it comes to me, I have no idea why. And hell, even if he does figure out who I am, I'll just spend some time _convincing_ him otherwise."

Shego snickered to herself, she almost felt sorry for Drakken. The man was a complete pushover to threats of physical violence and she knew that between her and Ron the mad scientists life was about to become unbearably difficult.

For some reason, it seemed kind of appropriate.

-

Kim bellowed into the Kimmunicator, "Wade! Where the hell is Ron?"

Wade Load looked nervous, he had never, ever, seen Kim so obviously upset and distraught. She was _angry_, no that wasn't right, she was _furious_, and oddly enough it was directed at the one person that he had thought Kim would be deliriously happy to see again.

"Kim, Ron turned off his tracking chip before he went to Yamanouchi and he never turned it back on, so…"

"Don't give me that Wade!" said Kim as her look practically bored through the video link and into Wade's skull.

The boy genius gave up in defeat, he was in a bad spot either he caught hell from Kim now or he caught hell from Ron later. He weighed his options and figured that Ron he could at least bribe with a certain website belonging to Ms. Bonnie Rockwaller and her little blonde girlfriend.

"Alright Kim, hold on…" Wade punched a series of buttons on his console and then laid back in his chair.

"Wade…" Kim growled at seeing the teenager's inactivity.

"Give it a few Kim, the only way to turn on the chip is to flash it again with a certain signal and in order to do that I have to basically blast it from every communications satellite in orbit. I hope you realize that I just broke the law in about a gazillion countries over this." Wade was showing a little backbone at this point, not that he was adverse to bending the law every now and then, but mentioning it to Kim should get her to dial down the heat on him.

Kim sighed a little bit, letting her anger partially dissipate on her breath. "Ok Wade, look… I'm sorry, but how long is this going to take?"

Wade leaned forward and looked at one of his monitors and then began to tap some more buttons. "Nothing so far, I'm going to reroute it through cell phone towers…" more buttons were tapped and then Wade's fingers went still.

"So…?" asked Kim.

"Nada. Either Ron is hiding 30 feet below solid rock or his chip is completely trashed, I don't know which one."

Kim pondered for a moment.

"Can you keep doing this Wade, in case he's inside someplace that is bouncing the signal and then…" Kim was cut off.

"No way, no can do. In fact I need to shut this down right now. We just disrupted all non-landline based communications on the globe for 60 seconds. There is no way I am doing this again any time soon. I'm serious about this Kim, people can die if their emergency calls don't go through because we are looking for Ron." Wade had a look of seriousness on his face that Kim had never seen. She wondered when the younger boy had become so… _grownup_.

"Ok, well what then? Any ideas?" Kim asked.

"Well, gee Kim… I guess I could break another dozen or so laws and commandeer some government spy satellites and see if they captured any imagery of that hovercraft and it's destination. I could also break into the FFA and see if I can find any radar records, you know… the usual stuff." Wade was laying it on a little thick, but he was getting his back up at Kim's demands. She used to be the one when he was younger to constantly get on his case about his hacking, but now she was practically trying to strong-arm him into breaking laws all over the globe. He didn't want this to become a habit of hers, Wade had college to think about and then a life after that…

"Wade, please… Ron could be in serious danger," Kim pleaded with the boy genius.

Wade nodded his head slowly, "Alright Kim… I'll get back to you if I find anything."

Kim closed the Kimmunicator after Wade killed the transmission and slumped back on her bed. She had come right back to Middleton after the fiasco at GJ Headquarters instead of going to her apartment. She hadn't been to the old apartment in weeks, partly because it was away from her family and away from the hospital that Ron had been in, but mostly it was because she couldn't exorcise the demons that she knew were waiting for her there.

"Kimmie-cub…" came the voice of James Possible as he peaked his head up through the trap door that led to her loft.

Kim straightened up and addressed her father, "What's up Dad?"

James Possible continued up the ladder to the point where his arms were resting on the floor of the room and gave his daughter a worried look.

"Kim, Meryl Stoppable is on the phone and she wants to talk to Ron…"

The look exchanged between father and daughter was one that spoke pages of words in a single instant. Kim closed her eyes and then let out an exasperated groan.

"It's ok Dad, I'll be down to answer it."

James nodded at his daughter and retreated down the ladder. Kim rubbed her eyes with her hands and started to slowly rise from her bed.

"_What am I going to tell her? She's going to be furious and she has a right to be, I shouldn't have let Ron come along, I should have just told him no. He was just… so forceful and I wanted things to be like old times, like when we were best friends saving the world, like when we were lovers roaming the globe together…_"

Kim knew instinctively that a great part of the reason why she relented when Ron wanted to come with her was because of the unresolved issue between them. Ron had come clean with her about what had happened to him, but he hadn't mentioned anything about their relationship or what he thought about it, or where it was going. In fact when she had handed him back the engagement ring a little part of her held out hope that he would give it back to her right then on the spot. She reflected that it was a stupid hope after she had heard his story – Ron had been gone for a very, very long time and while he may no longer be angry at Kim for what she had done, it also stood to reason that his feelings about her had changed. It was sad for Kim to admit, but there was no other way around the truth… whatever it was.

Kim didn't understand how life had gone from so simple to so complicated in just the span of a couple of months. Sure, she had her own hand in it, but what Ron had done defied any sort of logic that she could understand. Of course, Meryl Stoppable wouldn't be interested in hearing any of this – she would just want to know where her son was and if he was ok and why Kim had let him go out on a mission when the last one he had gone on had seemingly killed him.

Kim didn't have the right words to give to her, she knew it, but she also knew that she had to face the music. She felt like a condemned man taking his last walk down death row.

-

"Shego! Where are my drones, and who is… this?" shouted Drakken in his normal whine.

Shego was about to rip into Drakken about the uselessness of his precious bags of goop, but Ron interrupted her.

"My name is _Onibasu-san_ and I am an associate of Shego's," Ron grunted a little bit at the end as he pushed the wheeled bottom of the portable containment chamber down the ramp of the hovercraft.

Drakken's eyes instantly narrowed and he stared right at Ron. The mad scientist seemed to be trying to discern the nature of the strange ninja before him and his voice got distant as he spoke.

"Shego… how do you know this man?" Drakken asked cautiously.

Shego looked at Ron for a moment and gave him a wink that alerted him to the fact that she was about to do something mischievous.

"Drew…" she began almost coyly, "I want you to meet… my fiancé." Shego smirked as she said this and Ron almost fell over as he was pushing her chamber.

"_Oh, so that's how she wants to play this… Well, it's true I guess._"

Drakken's eyes went wide at this pronouncement; part of his mind chided himself at his own naivety. If Shego was pregnant, it only made sense that a _man_ had done it to her, and what kind of man could get that close to the fiery tempered villainess? He observed this new arrival "_Onibasu-san_", pretending that his normally dull senses could somehow discern something about the man that would allow everything to make sense.

The ninja stared back at him, seemingly challenging him in some unknown way. Drakken just shook his head, it was no use – whatever it was, he couldn't figure it out, at least not now. He thought about his plan and noted that the only thing that changed was that he now had _two_ pawns that he had to manipulate. He did a few mental calculations and decided that it was worth the risk to continue his plot, after all if things did work out in his favor maybe he would have a whole family of super powered ninja's at his disposal down the line. It was too tempting to pass up.

"Oh well, um… Welcome. Any friend of Shego's… and all that," Drakken snapped his fingers and the synthodrones that had been slowly surrounding the ship started to disperse.

"So Shego," he continued, "did you manage to get it?"

Shego glared at Drakken. "Yes, thanks to my fiancé here. Your drones are totally worthless, the princess and her sidekick managed to take them out before I could blink."

Drakken shrugged. He personally thought his drones were pretty good and it was just that Kim Possible was better, it was something that he was slowly starting to come to terms with, but it didn't do much to dissuade him from still attempting to take over the world.

"Anyway… Where is it?" Drakken asked.

Shego looked at Ron and Ron had to restrain himself from slapping his head. He then opened one of the pouches on the front of his belt and started to rummage around. He didn't find the chip.

"It's in here somewhere…"

He opened another pouch, and then almost as if by magic, a pair of tiny pink paws held up the item that he was looking for. Ron quickly snatched it with his right hand and used his left hand to block view of the pouch, hoping that Drakken hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. The imbecilic mad scientist might not remember Ron Stoppable, but there was a good chance that Rufus was just far too weird for him to forget.

"Shh… hide dude," whispered Ron as he closed the cover to the pouch again.

Ron recovered his composure and held the chip out in his hand before him. Drakken moved forward to take it and then Ron grabbed his wrist at the last second.

"I hope you're being honest with us _Drakken_," Ron let the venom slip into his pronouncement of the blue man's name as he squeezed very tightly on his wrist.

"I would be… most displeased if I found out anything you said was not true," Ron left the matter at that and then carefully dropped the tiny chip into Drakken's outstretched hand.

Shego was doing her best not to crack a grin at Ron's antics but she nearly lost it when Drakken finally responded.

"O-o-o-of course Mr. _Onibasu_-san!" Drakken bleated like a frightened sheep.

Ron just rolled his eyes at the frightened man, part of him wanted to give him a small lecture on Japanese appellations, but he decided that he'd just let Drakken do what he did best, namely, making a fool out of himself.

Drakken started to recover his composure, smoothing out the creases in his clothing he finally said, "Well if that's all I think I should go to my workshop and um… get working and all that. Yes, I'm going to go and start to work!" He was backing up slowly; he was about ten feet from Ron when he finally decided he was far enough to turn his back and continue out of the room. When he was finally out of sight Shego lost it and started to laugh deeply.

"Not too bad huh?" grinned Ron through his mask.

"No, that was… perfect. I don't think I could have browbeat Drew better myself!" Shego started to calm her self and then she motioned to the floor of her chamber.

"Mind giving me a lift? There's a big one down the hall over there to the left, I can actually lay down in it and I'm feeling a little tired…"

"Say no more my lady, I shall endeavor to transport you to the comfort of your…" Ron floundered around for the right words, "Um… clear plastic boudoir?"

Shego rolled her eyes, "Oh please don't remind me… you know I would absolutely _kill_ for a pillow and a blanket."

Ron grunted as he started the mini-chamber in motion across the room.

"If you want I can stand over Drakken with a hammer until he finishes his work," Ron said in between breaths.

"Um… Ron…" Shego began.

"_Onibasu_…" he cut her off.

"Right, _Onibasu_… What does that mean anyway?" Shego asked.

"Oh, it's sort of a joke. My symbol is the Lotus Blossom and an Onibasu is a certain type of lotus flower. It grows on the water and its name literally translates into 'devil lotus'."

Shego chuckled, "Excuse me? Devil Lotus?"

"Yeah, I didn't come up with it, Saito did… its kind of fitting though for a ninja super criminal isn't it?" Ron smiled as he rounded the corner still pushing the contraption.

"I suppose so… Not sure I can get used to it and I hope I don't have to…" said Shego.

"Well, if that bothers you, you can always call me _Danna-sama_. In fact, why don't you try that one out for size? I want to hear it." Ron was grinning widely.

Shego mouthed the word once and then tried to pronounce it the same way Ron had, "_Danna-sama_…"

Ron whistled a little bit and then said, "Hot, hot, hot."

Shego gave him a cross look, "Ok… what the hell did I just say?"

Ron blushed a little bit as he pushed the device through the doors that Shego had directed him to. "Well, in the colloquial it's pretty similar to 'Husband'."

Shego was still staring at him, "and?" She wasn't going to let it drop at that.

Ron chuckled as he came to a stop and then straightened up and rubbed his back.

"Um… more accurately it would be 'master of the house', or just plain old 'master'" Ron had pulled down the mask on his suit at this point and was smiling impishly at Shego.

"Oh, now I see how it is…" Shego purred at him.

"Hey, can't a guy have a fantasy… or two, or three?" Ron grinned as he waggled his eyes.

Shego purposely turned her back to Ron and walked over to the low tube that now connected the mobile chamber to the larger stationary one. As she leaned over she swung her naked rear back and forth at him and then looked over her shoulder and gave him a smoldering look.

"Who said it was going to be only a fantasy… _Danna-sama_?" she asked.

Shego's seduction hit Ron like a ton of bricks and the only thing he could say in response to it was, "BOO-YAH!"

Shego laughed as she crawled the remainder of the way across the floor into the larger chamber. "Please, don't you _ever_ dare do that in bed. I'll probably laugh so hard you'll find yourself on the ground!"

Ron looked a little sheepish then ventured, "How about… 'badical'?"

Shego seemed to ponder it for a moment and then a smile crept across her face. "Alright, I think I can cope with that one."

Ron bowed low to Shego in mock gratitude and then spoke, "Well, you get some rest and I'm off to find a hammer."

Shego's eyes cocked funny and she asked, "A hammer?"

"Yeah, you remember… Me, hammer, Drakken. I wasn't kidding about it"

Shego chuckled. "That's probably a really good idea. I don't think Drew would do anything to intentionally harm me, but you can trust him about as far as you can throw him and there isn't a whole hell of a lot I can do cooped up in here."

Ron nodded, "Yeah I get the same feeling, but it's ok. You don't have to worry about a thing, and you know why?"

Shego pondered for a moment, "Ok, I'll bite – Why?"

Ron smiled at her and then said in an affectionate tone that spoke volumes about his sincerity.

"Because, your husband is going to be with you every step of the way."

Shego wanted to rush through the glass and embrace him at that moment, but knowing she couldn't do that she just put her hand on the glass and looked at him with longing.

"I love you," she said.

Ron walked over and placed his hand over hers through the glass.

"I love _both_ of you," he said.

"Stupid power…" spoke Shego in a quiet tone, "It wont even let me cry right…"

"It's alright hon… I don't like seeing you cry anyway," Ron smiled at her his special infectious smile and the effect was immediate.

"Oh, go get going…" Shego said to him.

"Right," Ron replied, "Time to go show Drakken the _real_ meaning behind the phrase, 'crunch time'".

They both laughed at that and as Shego watched Ron leave the room she wondered if her heart would explode before she was able to finally wrap her arms around him again. Eventually sleep came to her but it was a difficult thing tinged with excitement and anticipation.

-

Ron laid back on the over large bed and rubbed his eyes. The room was nice and much to his surprise… kind of girly. The color scheme of course was green and black, but the furnishings and décor had a decidedly feminine taste to them. He smiled a little as he pushed his face into her pillow, even though it had been a couple of months since she had probably slept here, he could still make out the delicious fragrance of her hair and skin. There was a soft pressure on his stomach that moved up to his chest and when Ron turned his head he saw one slightly distressed mole rat looking at him intent beady eyes.

"Uh… Hi Rufus," Ron said.

The mole rat didn't chatter, didn't chirp, he just said one word to his human, "Kim?"

Ron sighed a little, he knew that eventually he would have to break the news of him and Shego's imminent nuptials to the people close to him, and it sort of made sense that Rufus would be the first one to hear about it, but at the same time he didn't really know where to begin and not sound like an idiot in the process. He cupped Rufus in his hands and then leaned up in the bed, placing his friend on his lap.

"It's probably ok to talk here…" Ron muttered as he looked around.

It was one of the reasons why he had _insisted_ that he be put up in Shego's room. He was pretty positive that whatever other accommodations that Drakken would provide him with would be crawling with surveillance equipment and electronic bugs and he knew that Drakken would _never_ be able to get away with that when it came to Shego's personal quarters. Even if she didn't hold the threat of plasma-fueled plastic surgery on his face over him, it probably violated her contract as well. Ron had gotten pretty good at reading people over the years and the look on Drakkens face when he insisted that he move into Shego's quarters told him that he had more or less guessed correctly at the mad scientists intentions.

"Look, Rufus… you were listening to me when I was talking to KP at Bueno Nacho, right?" asked Ron.

Rufus pumped his head up and down, "Uh-huh!"

"Ok, well I left a very important part of the story out…" Ron said.

Rufus was pretty darn smart and he had already guessed what Ron hadn't said.

"Hnk! Shego?" he chattered at Ron.

"You got it man," said Ron, "It's like this Rufus, I was gone for so long and it felt like I was trapped and I'd never see Kim again. The first thing to go away was the pain; it was just replaced with a real desperate longing to get back to her. I felt so alone that it was only my memories of Kim that kept me going. But eventually even that started to go away and it was replaced by… duty. I felt like I had to go on, no matter what."

Rufus looked sadly at his friend. He loved Ron in his own little mole rat way and he was fiercely over protective of his human friend. Seeing him speak with such sorrow made Rufus want to comfort him, so the little guy moved up to Ron's stomach and placed both his paws wide on him, in a tiny imitation of a hug.

"Thanks Rufus," whispered Ron as he brought his hand down across his friends back and scratched his ears.

"Anyway man, something really weird happened on that final time loop. First of all, I managed to find Shego, pretty much by accident. She was sick, hurt and a little delirious – I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but she didn't recognize me for some reason." Ron looked off in the distance, seeming to remember something.

"I took her in, fed her, clothed her, and gave her kindness. But it was all a plot, a plan on my part. I intended to seduce her, to make her fall in love with me and then turn her against Monkey Fist. I thought she might be the key to victory – I was right by the way, at least about that, but I was wrong about so many other things…" Ron's voice trailed off.

Rufus peered at his friend and he could see the wistful look in Ron's face. He knew that look intimately; he'd seen it before.

"Love." Rufus stated, not asked.

"Yeah, Love," said Ron.

"I didn't intend for it to happen, but she was so… different. Different than how I had known her, how I had ever expected her to be. It was like, if you took her out of this…" Ron waved his arm around the room, "she became a totally different and _extremely_ lovable person."

"She's shy, did you know that? She's sweet, a little insecure, she laughs, she cries, and even though I've seen her tear apart an APC with her bare hands… when I hold her in my arms she seems so delicate and fragile. It makes me just want to protect her forever."

Ron sighed a little bit.

"Guess I'm not making a lot of sense, am I?" he asked.

Rufus seemed to think for a moment and then gave Ron the thumbs up, it caused them both to break into laughter.

"Thanks Rufus, I'm glad you understand," said Ron through his grin.

Rufus didn't think it was that big of a deal. After all, Ron was his best buddy in the entire world. No mole rat and human had ever been so close before and probably would never be again and as far as Rufus was concerned, what use was it being best buddies if you didn't back each other up. Rufus was determined to have Ron's back for as long as he was alive, end of story.

"So like anyway man… We've got to figure out a way to help her. Drakken is supposed to be making some sort of device, but I don't trust him at all and I couldn't really take a good look at what he was working on with him in the room, at least not without making him super suspicious."

Rufus crossed his arms and concentrated greatly, this was a problem he wanted to help with.

"Hnk! Wade!" said the little mole rat.

Ron blinked for a second and then tossed the idea around in his mind. Wade Load was a certified wonder genius – even though he was a teenager, he was the one that the government went to when their scientists needed help with… well practically anything. And to top it all off, Wade owed him. Big time. The entire satellite surveillance thing and the way he kept Kim's little affair with Josh Mankey from him… yeah, Wade definitely owed him.

"Great idea Rufus! Time to go ninja mode!" Ron said as he pulled his mask back up over his face. He was surprised when Rufus reached into the pouch on the front of his belt and removed his own miniature ninja mask and put it on, his tiny snout sticking over the edge of the fabric.

"Oh I bet that's from Yori too…" Ron chuckled. A small idea started to glimmer in his head but he pushed it aside for contemplation later, there was plenty of stuff he needed to do first before he could get that far ahead of himself.

Ron picked up Rufus and put him on his shoulder as he approached the door leading out of Shego's room. He knew that there was a camera outside, but he also noted that it had a blind spot right by the door – probably at Shego's insistence, she was fiercely protective of her privacy. He slid the door open and spread out his senses, letting a little bit of the Mystical Monkey Power flow into his Chi.

"_No one is around, time to go._"

Ron oozed out of the door and into the hallway. There were three camera's between here and the workshop that Drakken used to build his inventions and he had no intention of trying to run past all of them. He scanned the hall and his eyes came up with what he was looking for.

"_Good ol' Drakken. One of these days he'll have to build a lair without human sized air ducts._"

The only problem that Ron could see was that in order to access the duct he would have to pass directly into the view of one of the security cameras, but even that could be easily overcome. He held out his hand and without saying anything, ninja-Rufus leapt into his hand with a back flip and a flourish. Ron raised his hand back and then threw Rufus into the air, holding his breath as the mole rat landed directly on top of the camera that was in the way. Rufus braced his legs against the wall and then used his upper body to push the camera downwards, so that it was facing the floor more than it was before.

Ron nodded at his friend and then side stepped to the far side of the corridor, then taking a slight run he leapt at a wall and back flipped right over the viewing angle of the now tilted camera, landing right beneath the air duct. Thankfully he was now taller than he used to be as a teenager so it was easy for him to push the grate up into the duct and then with a single fluid motion he raised himself into the small corridor. He lowered his hand down through the opening and made a crooking motion with his finger, then a moment later he felt something small land in the palm of his hand.

Ron placed Rufus up into the duct along with him, but slightly ahead of his current position. Then he replaced the grate and wondered how long it would take for Drakkens incompetent help to figure out that one of the cameras had been slightly moved. He remembered all the times previously when either him or Kim had just out right disabled them and he felt pretty confident that given past performances the camera would remain tilted for at least a week.

Rufus softly chattered at Ron and then took off down the cramped corridor. Ron had a pretty good idea where the lab was, but when it came to tunnels and navigating them, he knew that he could trust the natural instincts of Rufus. Naked mole rats were subterranean creatures like their name implied and they lived most of their lives burrowing under the earth and living in complex tunnel systems. Rufus was more or less in his element and Ron gave deference to the expert.

The first one out of the duct and into the room was Rufus. Ron lowered him down on a small piece of wire that was in his ninja tools and Rufus swung around precariously on the thin line as he looked around the room. He tossed Ron the go ahead signal and then leapt from the wire to a perch on top of a low hanging shelf. Ron stuck his head down through the opening and looked around himself just to double check with his mystical powers.

"_Empty, completely empty. Now lets see what we can find…_"

He dropped silently to the floor into a low crouch and then brought himself up to his full height as he walked towards the workbench that Drakken had been toiling over for most of the afternoon. There were blueprints tacked to the wall and while Ron was not a professional scientist, he had seen enough plans from mad scientists to make out the basics of the device. The thing that bothered him was the _details_ and the way they escaped his grasp. For a moment he wished that Zorpax was one of the personalities that he could call up into the forefront of his mind, but then the more he thought about it, the better off he was probably that the mad man had been locked firmly in his subconscious. Ron knew that he was dangerous enough without having to add world conquering insanity to his list of character flaws.

"_Although that could be kind of fun, me and Shego trying to take over the world. Raising our little family of super criminals in some remote tropical lair. The scary thing is I bet I could actually do it Tim North came pretty close as it was and I wasn't even trying._"

Ron chortled silently to himself. It was just a silly thought of his with a lot of drawbacks that were obviously apparent. The major one being that he absolutely had no desire to take over the world and then going down the list to the fact that his parents would be extremely disappointed in him.

"Ok, let's see what genius boy says about this," Ron said out loud. Rufus had moved from his perch to one closer to the door just to keep an eye on things.

Ron reached into his belt and produced his Ronnunicator, or at least what _looked_ like his Ronnunicator. It was a slimmer, more compact version with a flip top that he had never seen before – probably another one of Wade's improvements that he had included with the battle suit. Ron flipped the lid open on it and pressed a button on the side, it instantly sprang to life.

"Ron!" came the surprised voice of Wade Load as he stared incredulously at the man on the other side of the video link.

"Ron! Kim has been going crazy looking for you man, where are you? Hold on I'll triangulate your co-ordinates from – "

"Wade, don't you dare," said Ron in a low tone.

"Um, Ron? What's wrong man?" asked Wade as he withdrew his hands from his keyboard.

"Wade, I need you to do something for me. I need you to scan this device and these blueprints and tell me whatever you can about this them," Ron said this and then pointed the business end of the multi-purpose device towards the items scattered on the workbench.

"Okay Ron," said Wade as he began to press a series of keys, "is this about Shego man?"

"Yes it is and you're going to keep quiet about it for now, ok? If Kim even suspects that you were talking to me she'll probably get so amped up she'll beat the answers out of you."

Wade sighed, "Ron you have no idea how upset she is right now… and you're parents too man. Your mom is practically flipping out."

Ron cursed under his breath. He had totally forgotten about his parents, living a dozen or so life times without them had caused him to sometimes think of them as already out of his life even though that obviously wasn't the case.

"Wade, start recording the video feed, ok?" said Ron.

Wade nodded and then pressed a button and Ron could see a small red, "rec" icon in the corner of the display.

"Hi Mom and Dad, it's me. I can't really talk right now but I just wanted to let you know that I'm ok. In fact I'm perfectly fine, there is just something I really need to do right now. Please go easy on Kim, she doesn't know anything about this and I feel bad about even dragging her into it. I'll get back in contact with you as soon as I can, preferably face to face or at least through the phone. Rufus says hi and I love you guys."

Ron went silent and Wade took that as the signal for him to stop recording.

"Got it Ron," he said.

"Thanks Wade. Just burn that onto a DVD and mail it to my folks. They wouldn't know email if it bit them on the asses." Ron chuckled.

"What's this device supposed to be Ron?" asked Wade as he stared off to his left at a display that was off screen.

"That's what I was hoping you'd tell me. Supposedly it's going to cause Shego's powers to amp down to a manageable level, but Drakken says that he's missing parts for it."

Wade screwed his mouth up into a frown and then used a small light pen to tap some things on another display.

"Well, that's odd… I can see how it would work. It can subtly influence a persons nervous system. Theoretically if Shego's current state is because she can't actively exert her normal level of control over her powers, it would allow her body to suppress some of the energy… What did Drakken tell you exactly that it did?" asked Wade.

"He told her that it would siphon off her power, dissipating it. It seemed very important that she get as much of the energy away from her as possible…" Ron was lost in thought as he started to connect the dots.

"Well, that's a lie then. It doesn't do anything at all like that. I mean, if it works, it would _seem_ like that's what was going on, but it wouldn't be right. The power would still be there, just the nervous responses that activate it would be repressed." Wade rubbed his eyes a little bit as something seemed to catch his attention.

"Wade? What is it?" asked Ron.

"Well, I suppose… hmm. Ron, this is bad. It's possible that this device could influence more than just Shego's body's ability to control her powers. If you had really bad intentions, you could go as far as shutting down her central nervous system."

"That fucking bastard!" shouted Ron.

Ron picked up the device from the table and held it in his hand. He was tempted to crush it and then crush Drakken soon afterwards, but he stopped himself. He still had more questions to ask and even if he didn't like it, the device may be the only thing that would allow him and Shego to make a break from Drakken.

"Wade, the device… is it done?" Ron asked cautiously.

Wade poured over the scans he had taken of the device and then looked at Ron, "Actually… yes it is. Why?"

"Drakken told me that he needed more parts for it…." Ron had connected the final dots in the puzzle.

"Well he's…" Wade began.

"Lying. Again." Ron's tone was bitter.

"One final thing Wade, how does this thing work?" Ron held up the device to the view screen.

"Oh, that's easy… you can either activate it by touching that small stud there on the base of the collar, or you can activate it remotely. You actually need to turn it on _before_ Shego tries to wear it, if it gets within a few feet of her it should start to exert some control over her nervous system allowing it to be put on. Otherwise she'll just blow it up with her energy." Wade said.

"Remotely Wade? Does that mean you can activate… other features remotely?" Ron asked.

"Uh… yeah I suppose you could… oh I see. Ron hold the Ronnunicator up to the device for a second," said Wade.

Ron did so and then a small light came from the end of the device and floated across the surface of the collar.

"What are you doing Wade?" asked Ron.

"Changing the control frequencies. This way Drakken won't be able to…"

Ron cut in, "Kill Shego."

Wade caught the look on Ron's face and tried to comfort his friend, "Ron, I don't think Drakken would really do anything like that. I mean, he might threaten to do it, but that's all… he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to kill anyone, especially someone who's been with him for so long."

"I wish I could believe that Wade, I really do. I've seen too many things in my life to take a chance like that."

Wade nodded to Ron, he didn't really have anything to say at this point to the feelings that his friend was expressing.

"Ok Ron, that's it – the frequencies are changed. Still man, it's only a temporary solution to the problem. If you want I can try to run some scans on Shego and see what I can do…" Wade made the offer before he had even thought too much about what it entailed.

Ron just smirked at him.

"You sure your parents won't mind if I show up at your doorstep with the worlds most wanted woman?" he laughed.

"Well, yeah… maybe we can do it someplace else. I don't know… GJ is sort of out of the question, isn't it? Let me think about it man." Wade was a genius and if anyone could figure out the sitch, it was him.

"Alright, you do that Wade, but one thing – Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, tell Kim anything about this. At least for now, in fact if you could manage to hold out on her for at the minimum of an hour I'd really appreciate it." Ron said.

"Planning on being long gone by then, aren't you?" asked Wade.

"They don't call you a genius for nothing," grinned Ron as he clicked off the communications device.

Ron gave a quick signal to Rufus who leapt from his perch back into the ventilation duct and then he climbed up himself. He was going to make his way to Shego and tell her everything that he had just learned and then convince her to flee with him. He really wanted to give Drakken some pay back, but the longer he hung around the more likely it was that Kim would once again be hot on his heels. Wade was a good guy, but there were limits to how far he would go to keep information from Kim, especially if she started to be insistent. Ron personally knew that trying to resist Kim's "puppy dog pout" was an exercise in near futility.

As the ninja and the mole rat made their way through the metal tunnels of the secret base, Ron felt something nagging at the back of his mind. The device it seemed, would at least allow Shego to break from Drakken and go to ground with him and he even had a good idea of where they could go. However it was still a dangerous thing for her to be carrying around. Even if Drakken couldn't immediately guess what frequency he needed to activate it remotely, there was a chance, even a slim one, that he or someone else would eventually be able to figure it out and if that happened it would put both her life and the life of their unborn child in danger. The thought made Ron's blood boil and he knew that the first order of business would be finding a more permanent solution to the situation, even if he had to drag Shego kicking and screaming to Global Justice.

Hell, he'd just break her and their kid out if he had to. He was more than capable of it.

Suddenly, just as he arrived at the location where Shego was resting in her chamber, the piece of information that had been eluding him clicked into place in his mind.

"_Wade has the frequency for the device._"

Ron felt a cold sweat start to break out on his forehead and he remembered his nightmare vividly. If Wade knew how to activate Shego's power restrainer remotely, then there was a good chance that Kim also would come into possession of that knowledge. What would Kim do with it if she were pushed hard enough? Ron didn't want to think about it too much but he forced himself to admit that the thing he feared most had just become one step closer to reality.

"_Kim, or Shego and the baby… what a wonderful choice to make._"

Ron sighed to himself as he lowered his body through the vent into the lab where Shego was being contained. He knew without a doubt that if it came down to it, he would choose in favor of the mother of his child, there was no question in it. Still, that didn't mean that he wanted to stand by and let the events that he had dreamt about actually take place. He needed to put some distance between them and Kim, preferably a lot of distance, and an idea that he had started to consider just minutes before seemed to take on a life of its own.

When Ron padded down onto the ground he noticed that Shego was already awake and groggily looking at him.

"Uh… Ro- er… _Onibasu_?" Shego was obviously aware that the likelihood that Drakken had this room bugged for sound was pretty high.

"I got a present for you and a question," Ron said.

Shego just arched her eyebrow at him in return.

"Well…" he began mischievously, "Do you like Japanese food?"

-

The man who called himself Monkey Fist looked with intent eyes upon his doom. The way it pulsed and throbbed sent a rhythmic humming through his body that traveled the length of his form and tingled the tips of his fingers.

"_Must kill… Must kill…_"

The voices in his head started again with their chant. It never relented, even when he slept he could hear them whispering and grunting at him in his dreams. His sanity at the moment was a precarious thing, like a razor thin wire supporting a thousand pound weight over a yawning chasm. Precariously he navigated the corridors of his own mind and tried to block out the impulses that were starting to take control of him.

"_Kill him. It's the only way. Kill him and get it back._"

Yes, he knew the voice was right about that. He had wanted to reclaim what should have been rightfully his ever since it had slipped from his grasp. Even now, even when he _knew_ what would happen if he did finally take those steps, the thirst for revenge was too strong to ignore.

Monkey Fist placed his hands on his chest, running them across the rough fur that grew on his heavily muscled frame. Eventually his fingers came in contact with the demon that was slowly taking control of his mind. It felt warm to the touch and it pulsed with a life that showed it was intricately joined with his own.

"_Feel the power. Taste it. Hunger for it. There is more, so much more than you could ever slake your thirst on. You only need to kill him and it will be yours._"

Monkey Fist struggled for a moment and then brought his hands away from the ancient artifact. It was an accident, a strange and bizarre accident that no one had foreseen. Somehow during the time travel, Fiske had become joined with the magical idol, the _Tempest Simia_ and in doing so he discovered something about it that no one else had seemed to know.

It was alive. And it was _evil_.

Even now he fought against it as it tried to take control of his mind. It promised him power and strength and Monkey Fist _knew_ that it was right. He could feel faint tinges of it already starting to coalesce in his body. All he had to do was open himself up to it, allow it to enter his mind and then it would fill him with its intoxicating power.

"_Destroy the fool. Claim the power. Rule over the mortals._"

Monkey Fist nodded his head. It was so easy, so incredibly easy and the price it seemed to want from him was something that he so desperately wanted to do _anyway_. He listened to the sweet seductions of the idol for long minutes and then slowly his sanity began to reassert himself and he screamed into the darkened cave. It was a bestial scream, not one that a man should be able to make, but one filled with agony and pain and hatred. It was the scream of a wounded animal.

A wounded animal was exactly what Lord Montgomery Fiske had become.

He dug his fingernails into the hard earth of the cave and pulled them away, bloody and rent and covered with dirt. The pain helped him focus, helped him shout down the enticements of the idol that had somehow merged with his body. It wasn't that he _didn't_ want to kill Ron Stoppable, in fact it was something that Fiske had certainly fantasized about in the past, but he was afraid of what might happen if he did it.

The idol wanted the magic, it had tasted Fiske's own portion of the Mystical Monkey Power and it fed the evil in the statue like a drug. Always it thirsted for power, always it was hungry for energy, and in the mystic power it had found something that was too sweet for it to ignore. It savored every drop of Fiske's essence as it continued to pour it's own special brand of evil into his soul and the idol tried to spur him on to do battle with Stoppable so that it could defeat the man and then leach every last drop of his magic from his soul.

Of course, Fiske knew that the probability of that being enough to slake the thirst of the evil spirit of the idol was pretty slim. Eventually it would get hungry again and it would turn on Fiske, sucking away his own life force… or even worse. Already it tried to exert control on him, trying to wrap him up in it's evil and turn him into a mere puppet and it took every ounce of discipline and every secret meditation technique that he knew to keep the whispering voice from permanently taking root in his skull.

The idol had never had a body before at its disposal. Always it was a tool that others had used for their own ends, but it had been imbued at its creation with a spirit, an evil spirit that hungered for life. At first it's plans had been simple, "suck the energy from its host" was about as far as it had gotten before Fiske had put up his first defense against the leaching. This made the idol pause and it reached out and delved deeper into the mind of the animal that carried it in its body. There the idol found memories, emotions, dreams, passions… and knowledge. Knowledge of an entire world filled with life that it could have to feast on and the possibility of a universe that it could absorb into its seemingly endless hunger.

It had been messy, naive even and a little sloppy, so it had inadvertently let its host catch glimpses of the ideas that it was forming. This had been a mistake, because now the stupid creature fought tooth and nail for dominance of the body when it should have been an easy matter of just seducing it with whispers of power.

As the near broken freak of a man battered his head into the cave floor the idol just observed his futile actions with impassiveness. The animal would break sooner or later and when it did, all the dreams and plans that the idol had been forming since it became aware of the _world_ would eventually come to fruition.

After all, it had _time_ on it's side.

-

A/N: Yet another pretty long chapter here for number 16, I'm going to try and keep them at about this length since it seems that I'm the most comfortable getting down my ideas at about 22-30 pages of written text per chapter (or about 10,000 or so words). When I first started writing fan fiction I was more of a 5,000 word per chapter kind of guy and I think this was because I could pump them out in one day, but I found that I was often abbreviating concepts and ideas that I should have expounded on a little bit. Still sometimes I go for the short chapter, but there is just so much story to tell at this point I think I am going to be stuck with the big ones and the large update times that come with them.

I'm going to try to address some of the reviews/pm's that I've gotten about this work so far and I'm going to also apologize to not being able to personally respond to each and every one of the reviews that I get. It's not because I don't want to, it's just that the only time I have really right now to be devoting to that kind of stuff I spend instead writing the story. So people, I hope you can understand when I don't respond to your reviews that much and at least forgive me due to the fact that the time I save is being put into adding more stuff for you to read!

As for Kim – I just want to remind people that I am writing her in a certain way that I have remained true to for the entire duration of the story. It's obvious that none of the characters in this fiction are going to be exactly identical to how they are portrayed on the t.v. show – that would kind of defeat the purpose of such an utterly fantastic and in depth story, but I try not to alter someone too much without giving a reason for it. I think that's one of the things I am really proud about in this fiction, people are different from how they are normally portrayed but I feel like I've made the transitions believable.

The ending – I'm going to break with tradition and just flat out tell you guys that the ending will be, if not a totally uber happy one, at least a very satisfying one. I'm going to tie up all the loose relationship ends and there will be a real resolution. I have no plans on continuing this story into a sequel once I get to the end, in fact I would much rather work on an entirely different story – like either a Yori/Ron or a Bonnie/Ron or maybe even a couple of sub 50k word Rongo stories. And then there is the matter of getting back to some of my other fictions that I've put on hold while writing this story… Anyway, I am not big on deathfic, even if I do like angst. I don't like killing off characters just for the sake of angst. It's just not my style – so expect most people to pull through on this one. I'm not saying that there wont be any tragedy left to come up with, but I don't plan on having just plain senseless death.

Also I'm glad people picked up on the sentiment from Kim and how Ron actually felt about it at the end of the last chapter. No, Ron wasn't upset at being called a _sidekick_ by Kim, but more upset that she just wouldn't listen to him, especially about something that was so desperately important to him.

Anyway, I'm totally stoked that people are enjoying the story so much as we head into the home stretch. Please keep reviewing even if I can't get around to responding all the time. It really helps me focus my story and sometimes it just gives me that extra encouragement to get a chapter done a day or two ahead of time!

Thanks,

QC


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Under the Sakura Blossoms

Shego piloted the near silent hovercraft over the low tree line, leaving nothing in her wake except for a few mildly disturbed branches and the faint shimmer of the ships cloaking device. Ron leaned against her while he looked out of the cockpit, pointing with his arm to where he wanted her to land. The flight from Drakkens lair to this remote part of Japan had taken them over twenty hours and both of them smelled a little ripe. Shego wasn't complaining though, it had felt like ages since she was able to be this close to the man she loved.

"_Still, a nice little trip to that bath Ron keeps talking about sounds nice… what's it called again? Onsan? Onsen?_"

"Alright, set it down on the far side of that river," Ron whispered to Shego as he gestured to a small mountain stream that tumbled over an array of rocks. The entire scene before them was rather pastoral and Shego had to admit that although at first she was hesitant about going someplace where she didn't speak the language, that the rural part of Japan was looking much more welcoming than she had imagined it would. She supposed that the reason for this was because her only experiences in the country had been on business, and business was almost always conducted in the city.

"Ron honey, you don't need to whisper. This entire cabin is totally sound proof," Shego purred at her beau, hoping that he would catch the hint.

Sure, they may be a little bedraggled from the long flight, but the haste in which they had left Drakken's lair had left no time for them to _enjoy_ each other's company and Shego was hoping for a little Ron-shine. Her emotions over the last twenty four hours had been a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows and while she was thankful that she had been able to make a connection with Ron, it had hurt more than a little when he had explained to her what it seemed like Drew had been trying to do. Shego was a little surprised at how quickly her anger gave way to sadness when she had faced down the mad scientist on their way out of his lair. She had wanted to pulverize him, to beat him senseless for his plotting against her life and she threatened him to divulge all the details of his scheme. It was probably the second or third time in her life that Shego had actually ever paid attention to Drakken's ramblings.

Drakken had claimed that he had no intentions of using the device against her and a small part of Shego wanted to believe him – after all Drew _had_ been there for her when no one else had, but still she had to be practical especially after he had confessed to her that her pregnancy wasn't another ploy of his. She was thankful, not just for her sake, but for Drakkens. If she had found out that it was a lie of his… well even Ron wouldn't have been able to stop her from breaking his face into several pieces.

Shego pursed her lips and Ron picked up on her intentions and leaned forward to give her a not-so-quick kiss on the lips. He pulled away reluctantly and left his hand to drag softly through her hair.

"Sorry Bella, but I don't think we'd want to get interrupted doing _that_ by a dozen or so ninjas," Ron smirked at her.

Shego pouted, not because of the name Ron called her – in fact she actually preferred that to Shego, or even her given name that he had learned, but because she was a woman who just wasn't used to not getting her way. It was a peculiar quirk of her personality that when she couldn't resort to threats to get her way she instead relied on cute, yet childish, behavior.

"_Ron_," she whined in a playful voice, "There's no way that – "

Shego's statement was cut off by what happened next. A tiny pebble, flung from some unseen trajectory, landed dead center in the middle of the hovercraft's canopy, causing a small ripple of electrostatic camouflage to spread out like a stone tossed into a lake.

"Wow that was quicker than I thought…" Ron seemed to be lost in thought.

Shego's eyes went wide and she started to scan the wilderness around them.

"How is that possible? I've landed this thing on top of the freaking _Pentagon_ before!"

Ron pressed the button on the dash to deactivate the hi-tech stealth feature of the hovercraft and turned to Shego.

"There are other ways than technology to detect both friends and foes. You'll probably see more than a few weird things while we stay here, but just try to keep an open mind."

Ron smirked for a second and then continued.

"It should be easy for you, I mean… you shoot green fire out of your hands. Secret Ninja Arts should probably seem a little passé!"

Shego raised an eye at Ron. She had to admit that even without her own… unique situation, she had seen enough weirdness in the last few months that her world view was disturbingly open to new ideas.

"So, are you going to show me something good ninja boy? You know I've had my eye on you for a while… don't think for one minute that you had me fooled with that whole bumbling sidekick routine."

Ron pulled his mask up to his face to hide his smile, but the mirth was evident in his voice anyway, "Oh I'll show you something completely _badical_. How about a healthy serving of Monkey Kung-Fu with a side of Boo-yah!"

Ron closed his eyes and when he opened them again Shego would have sworn that his normal brown orbs had turned iridescent blue. She didn't get a good look however because almost instantly he popped the manual release on the hovercraft's canopy and leapt straight up into the air.

"_Five feet… ten feet… fifteen feet… TWENTY FEET!_"

Shego thought to herself that Ron must have somehow been able to escape gravity, it wasn't so much that he was leaping through the air as he was gliding through it like it was his native element. There were sharp whistling sounds as hand thrown projectiles whipped through the air in place to where a normal man would have begun his descent arc, but Ron was still in the air, almost hovering and beginning a fluid back flip that carried him to the low hanging branch of a large tree.

The projectiles flew through the air again and this time Ron seemed to pay little attention to them. He was already crouched low on the branch and when they flew at him he raised himself up in the air on one hand, letting them embed themselves into the branch or sail past where his form had once been. His eyes never stopped searching and it seemed that he had found his quarry. He dropped himself back down to the branch, his feet coming to settle in the same low crouch while his arms went forward and he propelled himself through the air to another tree that was twenty feet away. His arms flew out and snatched onto a thin, but tensile young limb. It bent under his weight but sprung back up lightly as he kicked off the trunk with his feet and then ducked sideways avoiding more shuriken that quivered softly as they landed in the tree.

Shego observed Ron's movements with her trained martial artist's eye. She knew that Ron was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, the supposed "Monkey Kung-Fu", but she had _never_ expected him to actually act like a monkey. The way he moved, the way he leapt from tree to tree, the way he balanced himself - it was the perfect imitation of an actual monkey. She started to understand now why Monkey Fist had decided to get DNAmy to genetically alter him – it must have been some bizarre "short cut" for him to try and simulate what it seemed like Ron had already mastered.

What happened next was surprising, to say the least. Ron's somersaulting arc took him high in the air to another tree and he landed not with his normal grace but with a loud crash. Shego saw the top of the tree literally shatter and spin off to the ground, sending a shower of splinters and broken branches into the air and one surprising addition that she would not have expected - a short, lithe ninja, that had been dislodged from his or hers hiding place in the tree.

Ron let the force of his assault on the tree send him flying backwards in an arc that carried him over the ninja that had been hiding there. The two forms came within inches of each other as they both began their airborne tumble to the ground. There was a flurry of movement in that short span of time as legs and arms spun out in a dizzying display of martial arts prowess, but Ron seemed to emerge the victor as his last kick sent the smaller opponent to the ground at an accelerated and out of control pace.

Ron landed on his own feet with such a sound that Shego would have thought a boulder had been dropped onto the ground. The other ninja had fallen in a prone position and was trying to rise when Ron bounded once and then landed, both feet within inches of his opponents face.

"I yield!" shouted the enemy ninja in what Shego could tell was a decidedly female voice. It seemed to shock Ron and he leapt backwards on what looked like unsteady feet. His hands quickly went to his mask and he pulled it down to his neck and spoke in an emotional voice.

"_Yori!_" It was an exclamation, a statement and a question all rolled into one. Shego instantly got her back up when she heard the way that Ron had said that name. Maybe it was nothing, but maybe… Well Shego wanted to know for sure and she was already leaving her seat in the hovercraft to join _her_ man in the field below.

The slender woman shook her head as if she was clearing cobwebs from her brain and then she pulled down her own mask to reveal a delicate and beautiful face. She gazed at Ron for long moments and then began to speak.

"_Ron-kun_, is that you?" her voice was hesitant and seemingly bewildered. She bent forward and tried to rise on unsteady hands, only to find that Ron had instantly closed the distance between them and was helping her to her feet.

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry about that Yori… if I had known…" Ron began to apologize.

The woman laughed ruefully to herself and then smiled at the tow headed man. Yori had always somewhat admired Ron, not just as a good person, but also as a promising martial artist. Now however, she had to admit that she was in awe of the man before her. It seemed that in the time since they had separated only months before he had surpassed any master that she had ever heard of, alive or dead.

"It's my fault Ron-kun, I should have sensed it was you when you landed. And as for the defeat you handed me… I would expect nothing less from the Chosen One," Yori stated this so matter-of-factly that Ron knew she meant it. It was one of the things about Yori that Ron really treasured – when she told you something, you just knew you could believe her.

"Ahem… Chosen One?" came an intrigued voice from behind him.

Ron finished helping Yori up from the ground and then turned to face his fiancée. He looked kind of sheepish as he put his hand to rest on the back of his head and looked off to the side.

"Ah, well… It's a long story and I don't really go by that, not even here… It's kind of embarrassing actually…" Ron said as he blushed lightly. He never had been really comfortable with the entire "Chosen One" mythos, even if he had slowly come to believe in it. It just seemed so… arrogant to him. That anyone would choose Ron Stoppable for anything involving any semblance of responsibility had always seemed sort of far-fetched.

"Ron-kun, there is no need to be so humble," said Yori. She then turned to address Shego and began a little speech.

"Ron-kun is the Chosen One, the Keeper of the sacred Lotus Blade. His path is the path of the warrior and the protector, to guard all that is good and to banish evil from this world in all it's forms. It was prophesized over a thousand years ago that he would come to our clan and bring it much honor through his wisdom and valor. To look upon him is to look upon the living embodiment of Bushido. To know his words is to receive the enlightenment of the – "

"Yori!" whined Ron as he cut her off. Shego just chuckled a little bit at the antics and obvious hero worship of the younger girl and she wondered if maybe her initial reaction to the reunion between the two had been misplaced.

"_Gomen Ron-kun_," said Yori as she blushed furiously. She seemed to be self-conscious now that she had stopped her gushing diatribe, probably realizing how it had sounded to the other woman, the woman that now she was finally looking at and starting to recognize…

Ron caught the look that Yori was giving Shego and he patted Yori on the shoulder in a reassuring way.

"It's ok Yori, she's with me," Ron said.

"Are you two good friends?" asked Shego as she looked at the pair that were standing a little bit too close to each other for her comfort.

The younger girl looked like she wanted to say something, but she bit her tongue. It was Ron instead who spoke up and he smiled at Yori while he said, "Yes. Yes, we are. And can I say… Yori it is really, really good to see you again."

Yori smiled at Ron, "It is good to see you again also Ron-kun. Master Sensei will be overjoyed to see you as well. Why don't we return to the school? I'm curious to find out what brings you back to us so soon…" Yori barely motioned her head to acknowledge Shego and continued, "and with friends as well."

"Yeah, about that…" began Ron, "I know it's a rule and everything, but I had to bend it this time. We have people looking for us and we need to hide for a while and I really need to talk to Master Sensei about something important…" Ron's voice trailed off as he tried to come up with more excuses for breaking the "no outsiders" rule of the Yamanouchi School.

"Ron-kun, Yamanouchi is your home as well as ours. You and anyone you bring here is always welcome," said Yori.

The delicate ninja then did something that was sort of unexpected. She turned to face Shego and then bowed low to her and said in a reverent tone, "Welcome to our humble school… Shego."

Shego didn't know exactly what to do, but she returned the bow as best as she could and replied with a simple "Thank you." Ron repeated her action and added his own rejoinder, "Please take care of us."

All three of them rose again and a shy smile spread across Yori's face. "Shall we go?" she asked.

"Just let me get the bags from the ship," said Ron as he scrambled back to the hovercraft and began to toss luggage from inside the cockpit down to the ground below. Shego walked over to the pile of luggage and retrieved a small duffel bag and a backpack that she slung over her shoulder.

Ron climbed down from the ship and then took a look at the luggage that Shego was carrying in her hands and at the really large pile that still remained on the ground. He didn't audibly complain, but he raised his eye at Shego for a second.

Shego was feeling mischievous and maybe a little needy, wanting Ron to prove to her that he loved her. She pouted a little bit and then said, "What? You're not going to make a pregnant lady carry all that heavy luggage are you?"

Ron rolled his eyes in an over dramatic way and then said, "You're not _that_ pregnant."

Shego was about to say something clever in return but it was Yori who actually came to her rescue.

"Ron-kun – " she began.

Ron just raised his hand and said, "I know, I know… It would be my honor to carry the luggage."

This caused Shego to break out into a chuckle and a faint smile briefly appeared on the lips of Yori, but it was quickly replaced by her normal countenance. They waited a couple of minutes for Ron to get most of the luggage situated and Yori even grabbed a couple of pieces herself. Eventually they were set to go and she led the trio down the slope through the woods that lead to the grounds of Yamanouchi.

"Shego-san," began Yori, "I have to admit I am surprised to see you in the company of Ron-kun. I had thought the two of you were enemies."

Shego smiled as she looked across at Ron who was struggling to carry a heavy trunk across his shoulders.

"Things change I suppose, sometimes even for the better," she responded.

Yori laughed at Shego's dry humor and agreed with her, "Yes, sometimes opportunities that you had thought were gone suddenly appear again."

Shego digested the statement from the younger woman and it sent warning bells off in her brain. Both the words as well as the undercurrent of feelings that she could sense in them made her get, for lack of a better phrase, _green_ with jealousy.

"I agree. For instance, when I was a young girl I was told that the comet that gave me my powers had made me infertile – yet here I am and bearing a child." Shego reached over and caressed Ron's arm as she smiled at him. Yori was looking forward so the movement was lost on her.

"Truly?" asked Yori, "That is… amazing. I am happy for you Shego-san. Does this have to do with why Ron-kun has brought you to our protection?"

Shego measured a few responses in her head and then settled on one that would get across everything that she wanted to say to the young ninja.

"He's a good man," Shego said. She paused for a moment and then added offhandedly, "He's doing his best for his family."

Yori was a dozen or so steps ahead of Ron and Shego, facing away from them, and it was a good thing because neither one of them could see the crestfallen look that came over her face. As it was, she nearly stumbled at the news, but she caught her self.

"_Again I lose._" she thought to herself.

It was just a small phrase but it conveyed a great deal of emotion. Yori had lost Ron once to a woman that she felt hadn't loved him nearly as much as she had and now just as she was singing in her heart to _Kami-sama_ that he had walked back into her life, she had found out that once again she had lost him before she even had a chance. She fought for a moment to master her feelings and then began to speak again to cover her embarrassment.

"Congratulations to you two. I can speak for everyone, including Master Sensei when I say that your child will be welcome here amongst us."

Ron cursed a little in his mind. He had wanted to tell Yori about the sitch between him and Shego, but he hadn't wanted to drop the hammer down on her like this. He wanted to be mad at Shego, but he knew that he had no right to be. Yori may be his friend, but the love that he had professed to Shego as well as the child that she carried gave her imminent right to make the situation known. He had just wished she had been a little gentler about it.

"Thank you Yori, that mean's a lot to me. To both of us I'm sure," said Ron.

Shego studied the interaction between the two and came to the conclusion that maybe she had been over the top in her reaction. Ron loved her, she knew this and she had done something hurtful to his friend because she was jealous of their relationship. Ron had told her about what had happened between him and Kim and Shego vowed to herself not to make the same mistake the princess had made.

"Yori…" Shego began, "I'm sorry for beating you over the head with that. Blame it on my pregnant hormones ok? I know that you're a very good friend of Ron's and I hope…"

Shego's voice trailed off and got small as she said something that she had never said before.

"I hope that we can be friends too."

Ron's eyes arched when he heard this from Shego and he waited anxiously to see how this exchange would play out.

Yori paused for a moment and then slowly turned around to face Shego with the brightest smile that she could manage to give her.

"That… would be _my_ honor, Shego-san," replied the slender ninja.

Ron smiled inwardly to himself as Yori turned around and began to once again lead them towards Yamanouchi. He knew from the way that she had responded to Shego that she had meant every word and Ron was relieved that his friend was still the same straightforward person he had come to love and rely upon.

He was a little wistful as he loped down the now steep hill behind the two women and his glance often traveled from one to the other. They were both beautiful, they were both dangerous, and they were both in love with him. He knew in his heart that he had chosen Shego before he had even learned that she was carrying his child, but a small part of him continued to look at the delicate lotus blossom named Yori Mutsamaru and wondering, even if just for a moment, what might have been.

He'd never tell Shego this of course, but he wondered idly if perhaps in another lifetime fate had been a little kinder to the Japanese girl, and the two of them had fallen in love. To most people this thought would have seemed a little vain and quite fantastic, but to Ron it was something that he gave serious thought to. After all, stranger things had happened - and certainly to him.

-

In the weeks that the idol had spent tormenting it's host it had learned a few things about the nature of a man, even a genetically altered one like Monty Fiske. First of all, they were stronger than they looked and not just physically, but mentally. The idol knew that in this contest of wills it would eventually be the victor, but it also knew something quite disturbing about the man it was trying to take control of it.

He would rather die than become a pawn.

This posed a problem for the idol that it didn't know how to solve. It's knowledge of these human creatures was pretty limited and while it was learning rapidly from being joined with one it knew that if it couldn't stop it's hosts suicidal intentions than it would never be able to taste that sweet power it longed for.

The first thing that the monkey man had tried seemed to be a simple and foolproof plan. He had crawled from his cave and ascended the mountain to a large ledge that overlooked the valley below. He sat there in contemplation and the idol tried to discern his intentions but was rebuffed by the steel discipline of his mind. Fiske was an expertly trained martial artist and the walls that he put up to guard his thoughts from the idol were all but unassailable so what he did when he arose from his lotus position was a surprise to the sentient artifact.

He had jumped.

Through their joined link the idol felt the sensation of free fall as they both plummeted to the ground. The taste of fear that welled up in Fiske's heart as the ground approached was palatable and that was what it took for the idol to understand that it was in imminent danger of losing it's host. Just feet before Fiske finally reached the hard earth below the idol exerted what minimal control it had over his body and infused it with power, it's own power that it had been trying to lure the man into subservience with. The consequences were something that Fiske had not expected.

Fiske halted in mid air, time seemingly frozen. Then slowly he began to rise back through the air, falling in reverse through the sky and eventually landing back in his lotus position on the cliff top. He opened his eyes and stood there with dumb shock on his face and then leapt again. This time the idol didn't let him move more than a foot before it reversed time again. Slowly a look of horror began to spread across Monkey Fists face as he began to realize exactly what was going on. The man screamed his bestial scream into the sky and then collapsed onto the ground in defeat.

"_You wont escape that easily monkey man. The only escape is to take up my power… you've had a taste of it now, it was wonderful wasn't it?_"

The words echoed in Monkey Fist's mind and as much as he tried to deny it, he knew it was true. The power _had_ been exquisite and even now it lingered on his senses like the scent of a long lost lover. It took him long minutes, but eventually he managed to regain control of him self and he sat back down into meditation – at least when he was lost deep within the corridors of his own mind the whispers of the evil artifact were faint enough that he could almost rest. Real sleep wouldn't come to him, but the meditation at least kept his brain from frying under the continual assault.

"_I must find a way. To give in means to die the death of personality, isn't that the same as the death of the flesh? To lose myself in the artifact… to let it control me as a puppet._"

Fiske wasn't foolish enough to think that he could control the idol, it's power was an ancient and primal one that was born from the very stuff of the universe and because of this it dwarfed Fiske's own will like a giant to a gnat. He counted himself lucky enough that he still had this one small retreat in his mind left to him and wondered how much longer it would last. This was when he finally made up his mind for a second and more disturbing form of death that he felt would be harder for the sentient artifact to counter.

He sat there in his meditation position and busily set about reinforcing the barriers in his mind. His body relaxed as he settled down for the long siege that was sure to take place and he wondered idly if he would feel any pain from doing this and if his natural urges for survival could be so totally suppressed. It was difficult to say without having ever tried it before, but he had little choice unless he wanted to be doomed to a walking hell for the rest of eternity.

The idol did not understand what its host was doing. After the failed attempt at ending it's own miserable existence, the creature that it was joined to had merely sat on the ground over looking the cliff. The idol tried to peek into his mind but was rebuffed at every turn, the insignificant retch having proved him self once again to possess an iron discipline of the mind. There seemed to be little choice but to wait and see what the monkey man would do and the idol momentarily halted it's whisperings, which it was sure the creature could no longer hear, and began to contemplate new avenues of attack.

The sun set over that day, and then the next day and the one after that. During all this time the idol observed that it's host hadn't moved a single micrometer. The creature sat there, in the same position, eyes closed and idly facing east towards the setting sun. This behavior bothered the idol and it sent its thoughts out to feel and explore the body of the creature that carried it in its chest. What it found caused the sentient artifact to taste a very human emotion.

Panic.

The creature was dying. Its body was deteriorating and already the idol could feel the life ebbing from the slowly wasting form. The idol threw back time to the point where the man had begun to meditate and was rewarded by watching the damage that had been done being removed by the reverse flows of the temporal stream. However this solution was only temporary as the monkey man was still in his near comatose state and nothing that the idol tried would wake him. Slowly it began to realize that there was little or nothing it could do to halt the inevitable destruction of it's host so long as he remained locked in his mind.

As the idol pondered this new development another life form of the planet circled overhead and caught its attention. It was primitive, surprisingly even more primitive than the host that carried it, but it had something that the idol could use and instinctively a plan began to form. The _Tempest Simia_ reached out with it's power towards the flying creature and within a second it had snuffed the life within it, drawing the energy into it's form and then quickly rerouting it to it's host.

The idol couldn't smile, but if it could have, it would have been grinning. It could feel it's hosts body shiver with pleasure as the small life force of the flying animal had been infused into it and the idol noted with satisfaction that some of the damage that had been previously inflicted in the days before had healed. The idol reached out with its senses again and was dazzled by the amount of life force present near by. Small animals and plants were all within range of its power and slowly it began to repeat the process it had begun with the circling bird.

Blades of grass withered and turned brown as their life force was transferred to Monkey Fist. Small animals fell over instantly dead as their lives were given to the idols host. Each time this process was done the idol could feel something building within the creature that carried it, almost as if a residue of it's own power was being left behind in the cells of the man.

"_This will work. I can keep the creature alive and leave my mark on it. How long can it resist the taste of the energy? Not long at all… and I can keep it alive indefinitely if I want to._"

The statement was true and if Fiske hadn't been buried so deeply in his own mind he would have realized exactly what kind of danger he was in, but he had cut himself off from his primitive urges and emotions as he sat quietly on that lonely mountain top. His conscious brain couldn't feel the addictive power flowing into his body, but the more animal and primal part of his psyche that was still roaming free started to hunger and lust for it.

He was blissfully unaware of how the idol was corrupting his body and feeding it an addiction that would soon hold him in its grasp.

-

Shego sighed as she looked at the garment in her hands, it was one of her favorite jumpsuits and she mourned its temporary loss as she placed it back in her luggage. She had been trying to keep in shape, to exercise and to even do a little light sparring to maintain her health but it was a battle she knew she was losing. Already her belly had a bulge that made it obvious, _especially_ in the form fitting jumpsuit, what her condition was.

She had been probably close to two months pregnant when her and Ron had left Drakkens lair together and now two more months had passed since then and it was becoming obvious to her that she needed a new wardrobe.

"_Oh I'm sure I'll look great in a giant tent, or maybe they'll just throw a tarp over me like some beached whale. Ron won't want to touch me at all… who cares? This is his fault anyway!_"

Shego sat in the darkening light of the rooms that she shared with Ron and started to cry a little bit. It wasn't that she was unhappy about being pregnant, it was just that sometimes she couldn't control her feelings very well. The entire process to her was filled with a mixture of wonder and fear that was completely alien to her and she knew intellectually that the changes in her body were influencing her feelings. This didn't help that much of course when she was throwing up and cursing at Ron, but eventually when she settled down it did allow her to approach him and ask for a hug.

Shego was brought out of her reverie by the sound of the rice paper door to the room sliding open and she turned to face the gentle smile of her new friend.

"She-chan? Is everything ok?" asked Yori Mutsamaru as she took a seat next to the older woman.

Shego smiled and put her hand on top of Yori's. It amused her greatly that she had gone from _Shego-san_ to _She-chan_ in the span of the last two months, but surprisingly enough it also felt comforting. The two women had begun on the wrong foot and Shego would probably always feel bad about it, but since their initial meeting they had grown very close, and Yori had become to Shego like the sister she had never had.

"_Yo-chan_," Shego began, using her own diminutive appellation for the ninja woman, "I'm okay… I'm just feeling a little ugly right now."

Yori draped her arms around her friend and gave her a gentle hug.

"You're the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world, I wouldn't worry so much about these things…" Yori's eyes traveled across the open suitcase on the floor and she instantly became aware of the problem.

"Here, come with me," she said to Shego as she rose to her feet and then helped the other woman waddle to her own.

Together they walked hand in hand down the long corridor of the living quarters until they arrived at Yori's own room. They entered and Yori went to her closet and removed a large pillow for Shego to sit on. She patted it once and Shego took her place while Yori continued to rummage around in her small closet.

"What are you looking for?" Shego asked.

Yori's voice was muffled as she dove deeper into the closet, "Some things… I want to lend you. Ah ha, I have found it."

Yori removed a large shopping bag from the back of her closet and then sat down next to Shego and opened it to reveal it's contents. Shego peered inside and saw… clothing.

"Yo-chan, I don't think anything you have will fit me. You were already smaller than me before I even got pregnant…" Shego began to protest.

Yori just ignored her comments and removed a folded garment from the bag.

"These aren't mine," she said as she unfolded the fabric and held it to her chest.

"Who's then?" asked Shego.

"My mothers, that's why I am only lending them to you instead of giving them as a gift," Yori stood up and then let the rest of the fabric drape to the floor.

Shego looked intently at the garment in Yori's hand, it was a kimono in black fabric with delicate red embroidery along the sleeves and hem. Shego was no expert on Japanese clothing but she knew from some window shopping that a garment like that would run a potential buyer thousands of dollars… even more so if it was vintage like this one seemed to be.

Yori placed the garment on a hook by her door and then helped Shego to her feet.

"Come on, lets get you out of those clothes," she said.

Shego hesitated for a moment, wanting to protest that Yori was being too generous to her and that she couldn't possibly be trusted with such a valuable family keepsake, but the look in the younger woman's eyes told her in no uncertain terms that such pleas would fall on deaf ears. Instead she just smiled and then started to pull off the sweatshirt and sweat pants she had temporarily "borrowed" from the stash of clothes Ron had kept at the school.

Yori folded the removed garments and placed them on the floor and then she retrieved the Kimono from her door. She looked at Shego who was standing there self-consciously and decided that some self-esteem improvement was in order.

"You look so beautiful," she said as she walked over to her friend.

"I'm huge," Shego said bluntly.

"Nonsense," Yori said as she bent down a little on her knees in front of Shego and then gingerly placed the side of her cheek against her bulging belly.

"Hello little one, we're all looking forward to meeting you," she whispered and then she turned her head and gave Shego a little peck on her distended belly. It tickled and the sensation made Shego laugh just as she was feeling like she wanted to cry at the sweetness of the scene.

Yori rose up to her full height again and held up the sleeves of the Kimono for Shego to slip into. Shego turned around and began to slip her arms into the garment while Yori continued to talk to her.

"What's really wrong She-chan?" she asked as she draped the garment onto Shego's shoulders.

Shego sighed and then decided to come clean.

"Its Ron… he's been so busy and lately I've been so tired that I can't wait up for him to come to bed any more. We've hardly had any time alone together and I guess I'm just feeling a little… unattractive."

Yori turned to face Shego and started to do up the front of the kimono.

"It's very obvious to everyone the way Ron's eyes light up whenever he looks at you. He loves you and he loves the baby," Yori said in soothing tones, "But I agree… he has been too busy with Master Sensei and his new training. You need to make it plain to him that he has more duties than just mastering his power."

Yori bent down and began the delicate task of tying the obi belt around Shego's waist. Shego observed the practiced movements with a sense of interest.

"That's very pretty, can you show me how to do that?" she asked.

"Of course She-chan, but tonight we have another mission," Yori replied with a grin on her face.

"And that is?" inquired Shego with curiosity in her voice.

Yori led Shego by her sleeve to a mirror on the far side of the room and then turned her to face it.

"This is our mission," replied Yori.

Shego observed herself slowly in the mirror. Her hair felt a little listless, her skin seemed to be shiny… perhaps too shiny, and while the kimono was attractive, it was still obvious she was pregnant.

"_More like a suicide mission if you ask me,_" she thought to herself.

Yori was looking over Shego's shoulder and caught the dissatisfied look that Shego was sporting on her lips. She softly grabbed the back of the other woman's hair and brought up from her neck and on top of her head, pooling it between her fingers and gently moving Shego's head to the side.

"That looks nice," Yori said softly.

Shego looked out of the corner of her eye at her profile and had to admit that she wasn't entirely unhappy with what she saw.

"Maybe a little," she quietly assented.

"Do you use makeup?" asked Yori.

"Hmm… some stuff, not a lot. My complexion is a little… abnormal and foundation doesn't come in mint crème." Shego chuckled a little as she remembered being 15 and trying to concoct her own cosmetics by pilfering her mothers supply of make up and some food dye from the kitchen. It hadn't turned out well.

Yori contemplated the situation for a moment and then spoke, "I don't have much, but I have a few things that might be nice. Want to try them?" asked Yori.

Shego was about to tell her not to bother, but she caught something in the sound of Yori's voice that made her pause and consider the situation for a moment. There was something there that Shego intrinsically recognized and it didn't take long for her to place it.

"_Excitement?_" she pondered.

"You've lived here all your life, haven't you?" asked Shego in return to Yori's question.

"Yes, Master Sensei took me in when I was a small child…" Yori's voice had a hint of wistfulness in it.

"Not many girls around here to do… girl stuff with, are there?" said Shego as she grinned at the slightly younger woman.

Yori blushed and then giggled. "You see right through me She-chan!"

Shego had to laugh at this. She knew there was a reason why her and Yori seemed to be so close and finally it was making sense to her. Both of the women had grown up mostly isolated from a lot of the normal aspects of being a teenage girl and each of them secretly wished that they could have participated in that world, at least a little bit.

"Can you imagine how this would blow people's minds? The most wanted woman in the world and a ninja doing each other's hair and makeup. All we need now are some Oh Boyz CD's and fashion magazines to really complete the picture!"

The situation was so absurd that Shego couldn't help but giggle and it was so infectious that it quickly spread to the usually stoic Yori.

"Great! And now we're giggling like school girls!" gasped Shego in between giggle fits.

"I think I have different musical tastes but…" Yori said as she walked over to her closet again and then retrieved something that was hidden under a blanket.

Shego took one look at the stack of items in her hand and then her giggles turned into a deep laugh. Yori was holding a stack of magazines to her chest and while Shego couldn't read the Japanese script, there was a familiar English font that loudly proclaimed, "Cosmo".

Yori looked at Shego bashfully and perhaps a little expectantly, probably hoping that she hadn't completely ruined the older woman's image of her. Shego herself thought the entire scene was hysterical and she cracked a wide grin as she just threw her arms up in the air and said, "Oh… why the hell not?"

Both women laughed and then sat down on the floor, the stack of magazines resting in between them. Shego picked up the first one off the stack to flip through it, but her eyes were instantly drawn to what was beneath.

"Oh! What's _this_?" asked Shego as her eyes lit up.

Yori quickly snatched the magazine and then placed it behind her back, laughing even harder.

"You didn't see anything!" she said as she leaned back to obscure the magazine behind her.

"Oh I think I did see something and I'm pretty sure…" Shego went to reach behind Yori, causing the other woman to twist and giggle. However Shego was fast and she snaked her other arm out and pounced quickly, coming up with the magazine in her own hand.

"Ah ha! I was right… RON!" gasped Shego in fake surprise as she rolled backwards on her rear and laughed. For her part, Yori just blushed about a dozen different shades of crimson.

Shego looked at the magazine, she couldn't read Japanese but she could figure out from the way that Ron was featured prominently on the cover along with a couple of other small inset pictures of different boys what general type of publication it was.

"I had no idea! I mean, I saw Ron on the cover of a couple of teen beat magazines a year or two back, but never like… _on the cover_ and usually everything was all about him just being Kim Possibles boyfriend…" Shego had spoken before she had even thought about it and then when she realized what she had said she instantly regretted it. She knew that both her and Yori had their own reasons to feel a little bitter about the relationship that Ron had with Kim.

Despite Shego's concern, Yori hadn't really been bothered by the comment. Truthfully she had become intimately aware of the relationship between the two teen heroes and in about as painful of a way as imaginable – pining away for Ron for so many years had more or less made her accustomed to the fact that her dream would remain that, just a dream.

"Ron-kun is actually pretty popular over here," Yori said in a shy voice, "He did save the Emperor's family once after all…"

Shego pondered for a moment and then a light bulb went off in her head, "Yeah! That's right… Monty was holding them hostage in return for some ancient artifacts from their private collection…"

Shego felt a small shiver go up her spine when she spoke Monkey Fist's real name out loud. She had often wondered what had happened to him during the months since her return to the present time, but no one it seemed had heard or seen him at all. She reasoned that if Ron and her had returned, then Monkey Fist had as well and she wondered if they would come into direct conflict again. Shego didn't want it to happen, but she knew in the back of her mind that part of Ron's reason for training here at Yamanouchi was in preparation for an inevitable show down that only he saw coming.

"It was a really big deal," Yori continued, "He brought much honor to our school that day and the Prime Minister presented him with a special award, he was the only foreigner to ever receive it."

Shego had been busily flipping through the magazine looking for the article on Ron, until she finally found the five-page spread. Amazingly enough there was only one picture of him and Kim together, it seemed that the magazine editors knew their target audience well.

"Ah… what does this say?" asked Shego as she pointed to a bulleted side bar.

Yori leaned over forward and then grabbed the edge of the magazine and twisted it to the side so she could read it easier.

"_Stoppable-sama's _10 things to look for in a woman," Yori muttered.

Shego's eyes lit up and she said, "Oh _really_?"

Yori hung her head low and said, "Oh, I can't believe I used to read this…"

Shego ignored Yori's admission and instead shoved the magazine under her drooping head and said "Hey read it to me! I'm guessing that 'Kermit impersonator' isn't on there huh?"

Yori looked up at Shego, not quite knowing how to respond to her self-depreciating humor.

"She-chan this was written a couple of years ago. People change and…" Yori was cut off by Shego who just playfully punched her on the shoulder.

"I'm just kidding! But seriously, read this to me!" Shego grinned at Yori.

Yori cocked an eyebrow and then took the magazine from Shego's hand; it was obvious that she was a little puzzled.

Shego just looked at her, still grinning and explained it with one word, "Ammunition – you never know what you'll need to keep a man in line!"

They both laughed at this comment and then Yori began to read the article out loud to Shego while they sat on the floor. The situation was kind of ludicrous, but neither one of them bothered to point it out to the other as they fell into their seemingly chromosomally appointed new favorite past time. The two hours that the women spent together bonding like this meant a lot to each of them, it was as if they had somehow managed to go back in time and experience a tiny part of what it would have been like if either one of them had been a "normal girl".

"Ok, that should do it…" spoke Yori as she finished applying the last stroke of color to Shego's lips.

Shego turned to face the mirror in Yori's room so that she could observe her new look. To her amazement, the younger woman had managed to do a very flattering job given the difficulty of what she had to work with. Shego smiled, showing her teeth and then ran a finger across them to smear away some faint traces of lipstick.

"Mmm… This seems like a lot of work for something that if everything goes well, is going to get messed up really quickly…" said Shego as she pursed her lips.

Yori chuckled and agreed with her, "The things we women do for men…"

"That's the truth," replied Shego and then she continued in a questioning tone, "So, what's the plan Yo-chan."

"Ron-kun is in the private dojo, practicing with Master Sensei," said Yori thoughtfully.

"Yeah, and…" Shego fished around.

"He has quite an appetite doesn't he?" Yori was playing clueless and it made Shego giggle.

"I suppose, he might appreciate it if someone was to bring him some food…" replied Shego.

Yori stood up from the floor and lent her hand down to Shego who took it and then struggled to her own feet.

"Master Sensei keeps immaculate gardens," stated Yori.

Shego had seen them before; suddenly things were falling into place.

"They are very beautiful and… secluded, aren't they?" asked Shego with a hint of a blush to her cheeks.

Yori just giggled in response and led them both to the kitchens. When they arrived she spoke to Shego and asked, "Have you ever made bento She-chan?"

Shego shook her head. Truthfully she wasn't much of a cook and the few times that her and Ron had indulged in private meals, Ron was always the one that cooked. It just made sense; he was so _good_ at it.

Yori grinned at Shego and said, "I'll teach you."

Shego was surprised at how easy the entire process was. Yori had picked food that was wholesome, delicious and most importantly – easy to make. Even with her limited culinary experience Shego found herself being pleasantly surprised by how well things were coming together and when they were finally done and began to place the food into the beautiful cherry wood bento box it was almost magical how everything seemed to just… _fit_ so well.

"Wow, that looks so nice Yo-chan!" exclaimed Shego as she stepped back for a moment to admire her handy work.

"Here," said the other woman as she held out a thermos to Shego, "Tea – your final weapon, it's Ron-kun's favorite."

Shego feigned a mock salute before she accepted the thermos and placed it inside the basket with the bentos she had made. Everything looked to be in place and Yori had even returned to her room while Shego tended the food to bring her a small blanket for them to sit on. When Shego had first started this night she had been apprehensive and listless and now those feelings had flipped around to nervous anticipation. The idea of having a moonlit picnic with Ron just seemed so _romantic_ to her that it had replaced her downcast expression with one of girlish excitement.

"Thanks Yo-chan," said Shego. Those words were simple but they conveyed a lot of emotion. For her part Yori didn't respond with anything other than a smile and she was a little surprised when Shego moved in close to embrace her in a friendly hug. The two women stood that way for a few seconds until Yori felt Shego's body quake a little.

"_Dame!_ Don't you dare ruin that makeup before he sees it!" said Yori with fake sternness, she even playfully waved her finger back and forth in front of Shego's face to emphasize the point.

Shego couldn't do anything but laugh, her tears already drying up before they had a chance to flow. She knew that her emotions were pretty high strung right now, but she also acknowledged that the idea of having a girlfriend to share these kinds of things with was just so… incredibly awesome. It was a great feeling and one that she hoped she'd never have to give up on again.

"Go now," said Yori, "You know the way, do you not?"

Shego nodded and patted her friend on the shoulder, and then she scooped up her basket and made her way towards the dojo leaving Yori alone to her thoughts. The younger woman had a wistful expression on her face, almost as if she couldn't believe herself. A small part of her was jealous of Shego; she was after all, with the man that Yori had loved for so long. Another, and much larger, part of her however was happy. As she watched the older woman disappear from sight she knew that while she had probably lost her chance at Ron forever, her circle of friends had grown by one, with another one on the way – and friends were _very_ important.

As Shego stepped into the warm evening air her thoughts were somewhat similar to Yori's and she also was glad that they had been able to avert a bitter rivalry and instead become close friends. They had a bond after all, not only in the way that they both cared for Ron, but in the way that they had both been so isolated from their own childhoods. Shego had spent her formative years battling crime in Go-City with her brothers, leaving her little to no time to just be a normal girl and it seemed that Yori had a similar experience training in this remote mountain school. There were unsaid words spoken between the two of them conveyed with looks that made it abundantly clear that they understood each other perfectly. Shego made up her mind at that moment that when the baby was born she would ask Yori to be its godmother. Ron might be a little surprised, but she was confident that it would make all three of them happy.

Shego softly padded up the stairs to the dojo, the sandals that Yori had leant her making a small flapping noise with each step she ascended. Eventually she came to the top and then smoothed her borrowed kimono out and carefully checked the ornate fan that Yori had tucked into the obi-sash that was tied around her waist. Everything seemed to be in place so she sucked in a big breath to calm her butterflies and then moved the rice paper door aside to enter.

"Kyah!" came the shout from Ron as he whirled through the air in a dazzling display of spinning acrobatics. Shego had always assumed that Ron just practiced while Master Sensei instructed, but now she realized that the ancient wizened man was quite a bit more spry than he looked as the martial arts master expertly ducked beneath the arc of Ron's trajectory.

The two men landed on the ground just mere feet from each other and then circled warily around the center of the room. Ron's posture was more aggressive and he was constantly testing the defenses of the older man. For his part Master Sensei seemed to be either completely unaware or not caring about Ron's attempts to prods him into an attack. He looked almost disinterested when Ron finally came at him with a low roll and punch combination that he expertly avoided, sending a strike of his own to the back of Ron's head.

"Ow!" said Ron as he came up to his feet.

"Perhaps if I do that enough Stoppable-san some sense will start to penetrate that thick skull of yours!" replied Master Sensei with a chuckle as he assumed his normal elegant defensive posture.

Ron spun around and was beginning to launch into another sequence of attacks when he was startled by the sound of Shego clearing her throat. He stopped and looked over to the side of the room, seemingly confused.

"Bella?" he asked, "What's up?"

Shego smiled. Ron wasn't supposed to call her that in mixed company, not at least until she had totally thrown away her old persona, but she thought it was endearing that _he_ at least didn't subconsciously label her with her villainous moniker.

"I brought you some food to eat. I thought maybe you could use a rest?" she said.

Ron looked at Master Sensei and then looked back to Shego – he was torn between the necessity of continuing his training and wanting to spend time with the woman he loved. The look on his face was plain and it was Master Sensei who finally gave him the go ahead.

"Stoppable-san, should take a break. The fact that he couldn't sense his own child approaching shows that his brain is either soft or undernourished."

Ron rubbed the back of his head and wondered idly how many more blows he'd have to take to it before Master Sensei felt confident in the firmness of his medulla oblongata.

Master Sensei bowed low to Shego and then walked past her down the steps of the dojo, leaving the two lovers alone in the room. Ron walked over to her and gave her an embrace and a quick peck on the lips.

"Is what he said true Ron?" asked Shego when they finally separated.

"What? About my brain…" Ron said.

Shego just giggled at him, "No I mean about you sensing the baby. Can you really do that?"

Ron smiled and lifted the basket from Shego's arms.

"Yeah, I can. I can pretty much always tell where you and the baby are – well within limits. Generally as long as you are on the school grounds I know where you two are."

Shego laughed a little bit at this, "Ron that sounds like something out of Star Wars. I didn't know I was marrying Obi-Wan Kenobi!"

Ron held her hand as the two of them made for the rear door of the dojo that led out into the back courtyard and the gardens within.

"If it makes you feel any better, I couldn't do it until recently," he said as they strode hand in hand to the garden.

"What changed?" asked Shego as she reached into the basket and removed the blanket that Yori had thoughtfully provided her with.

"I've gotten a lot better at controlling the Monkey Power. You probably couldn't tell, but I've been using it almost non-stop for the last two weeks. At least a low level version of it, I practically have to, just to be able to keep Master Sensei from smearing me when we practice!" Ron said as he kneeled down on the ground to help Shego smooth out the blanket.

Together they sat on the soft lawn, only a dozen or so feet from a large cherry tree that constantly seemed to be in bloom. Shego wondered if it was a magic of some sort that kept the tree forever shedding it's small delicate sakura blossoms into the wind. Magic somehow seemed an appropriate way to describe something so ethereally beautiful. Just as she was thinking this the tree let loose a little flurry of pink blossoms that gently floated down towards them. Ron reached out his hands and caught some in his fingers and then held them forth in front of Shego's eyes. He smiled as he raised his hands over her head, sending the petals down in to her hair.

"Ron!" she giggled.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist – two beautiful thing should go together, don't you think?" he playfully asked her.

In response Shego leaned in to kiss him on the lips and then giggled fiercely as she brushed some of the petals from her hair into his.

"I quite agree!" she exclaimed as she leaned back and laughed at him.

Ron was overjoyed to see Shego in such a good mood. He wasn't dumb and he knew that he had been neglecting her somewhat during the last couple of weeks, but he also had this nagging feeling in the back of his head that he was running out of time and that feeling drove him to dedicate the majority of his time to study and training.

"So let's see what you brought me…" he said as he reached into the basket to remove one of the bento boxes. He flipped off the soft cherry wood lid and then did an exaggerated gasp, much to Shego's delight.

"Wow this looks great Bella, did you do all this?" he asked as he reached down to retrieve a small sausage and popped it into his mouth.

Shego grabbed her own bento and then offered Ron one of the pair of chopsticks that she had brought with her. She placed her bento down in her lap and then opened the tea thermos and held it to Ron's lips, letting him drink right from the container.

"Mmm… my favorite too. What did I do to deserve such a wonderful woman?" he grinned at her as he reached into the basket for the teacups.

"Sometimes I ask myself that, especially when I am leaning over the toilet at 6am in the morning," Shego replied with a wry grin.

Ron reached one of his arms around and softly began to rub Shego's back. At first she leaned back into it and then she leaned forward, letting him caress the length of her spine.

"Thank you," Ron said.

"Huh?" she replied, her voice slightly muffled from her current position.

"It's just… I know we are in this together, but I feel so useless sometimes," said Ron as his hand trailed up Shego's back to come resting at the base of her neck – the fingers of his wide hand gently probing at the muscles there.

"Ah… that's nice," Shego purred. She leaned back and then turned her head to Ron and gave him another kiss, this one longer than the last. His lips tasted good, the faint trace of the tea was still on them.

"Ron, it's ok," Shego said, "I don't know exactly what you are doing, but I've got a pretty good idea of _why_ you are doing it."

"Is it ok if we don't talk about it right now? I know it's selfish of me but I just want to enjoy this beautiful night and the beautiful company," he whispered to her as he looked down into his bento.

Shego smiled at him and then squeezed his free hand. She understood, probably a lot more than Ron thought she had and as much as she didn't like the idea of anything that would jeopardize her incipient family, she also knew that Ron would do whatever he had to in order to protect them all. She left it at that, at least for now, and instead of saying anything she reached into Ron's bento with her chopsticks and lifted some omelet to his lips.

"You better hurry, my grip on this is pretty tenuous…" Shego's hands were shaking a little as she tried to keep hold of the slipper omelet between her chopsticks.

Ron leaned his head down and wrapped his lips around the egg, well mostly anyway. A small part of it hung out of his mouth and Shego couldn't resist using her finger to press it the rest of the way in. In response Ron clamped his lips down on her finger and sucked on it gently, just as he had the first time when she had pricked her finger. Shego still found it incredibly sexy.

"Ron…" Shego purred as she snuggled up closer to him, "How's the bento?"

"Um… it's good?" Ron replied, his eyes watching her instead of his food.

"Are you sure… you wouldn't rather have something… else to eat?" whispered Shego in his ear. Her movements had caused the top of her kimono to come slightly loose and part of it had slipped part of the way down her shoulder, exposing it and her neck to Ron.

"Maybe a taste…" muttered Ron as he leaned in to kiss the nape of Shego's exposed neck, eliciting a soft sigh from her as she moved in closer to his body.

Soon all thoughts of bento were pushed aside as the two lovers held each other in the moonlit garden. Shego thought that Ron's hands felt firm and sure as he loosened her garment and her own passions were spurred onward when she felt her bare chest press against his through his loose gi. Shego gently pushed herself away from her lover and laid on the ground on her back, her kimono was open, almost like it was a second blanket beneath her and Ron marveled at the flush that had spread across her body. A few soft sakura petals had fallen from the tree and landed on her naked body and Ron noted in his head how beauty really did compliment beauty.

"Ron, I want to do it this way… please be gentle with me," whispered Shego as she blushed harder at the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Ron didn't move directly over her, at least not at first, instead he moved to her side and then leaned in to kiss her while his hand moved softly over her chest. He was surprised, although he knew that he shouldn't be, at her request. In all the times that they had made love since the first time, this was something new. Shego had always been the one to take the dominant role in their lovemaking, it wasn't that she was aggressive or violent; in fact she was quite gentle and caring. It was just that she had controlled the tempo, controlled the activities, and used her hands to guide where Ron should go and when. She always awkwardly apologized as well, something that Ron would gently chastise her not to do. She merely explained her actions as "something I need to do", and Ron had left it at that.

This time was different and while Ron wasn't sure why, he knew that he was going to show her the same kind of gentleness that she seemed to crave. He instinctively wanted to make her feel safe and loved, so he took his time playing on her body and driving her passion onward. Slowly he trailed his kisses down from her lips to across her chest, dallying a bit to pay attention to her breasts. They had slightly grown over the last few months and Ron was most appreciative so he showed it in the way that he caressed and kisses them. Shego's breathing started to speed up at his ministrations and a few soft moans escaped her lips. Ron put his hand between her legs slowly and he felt her body tense up for a moment and then relax as he continued his kisses down her chest and across her stomach. Shego's normal frame was so fit that it was obvious that she was pregnant by the way her small belly bulged forward. Ron spent extra time kissing her there and letting his tongue trail across her body as he continued to work downward.

The moans that Shego had been uttering increased in both their volume and frequency as Ron worked his lips down toward her pelvis. He toyed with her a little bit, making the movements of his hand more erratic and softer while he almost, but not quite, grazed the area with his lips. The effect this had on Shego was pronounced. Ron could feel the extra wetness on his fingers and he could hear the tone of her moans take on an almost desperate, pleading, quality.

"Ron… Ron baby…" Shego muttered in between pants. She started to reach down her hands to Ron's head, to push him in the direction that she wanted to go in, but he grabbed her wrists and placed them back down on her chest.

"_Oh God, so unfair…_" she thought to herself as Ron continued to tease her with his touch and lips, giving her small peeks at the tantalizing pleasure just barely out of her reach.

Shego decided that if Ron wasn't going to let her use her hands down there, then she would take the initiative up top on her own. Slowly she began to cup her own breasts, letting her fingers softly kneed them and play with her nipples. The extra stimulation combined with what her lover was doing to her was quickly driving her towards the edge. Her body was so alive that when Ron's lips finally found their target between her legs that she screamed out a short cry of pure pleasure.

Ron tried to be serious at his task, but it was a struggle not to crack a grin. He was glad that she was enjoying this and he contemplated holding out on her a little longer just to drive her wilder but the eager sound of her panting made him take pity on her. He moved his mouth over her special spot and sucked gently with his lips while his tongue played upon her rose bud. Shego moaned wildly and he could feel her body start to shake and quiver under him. She couldn't resist any more and one of her hands went down to the back of Ron's head and curled in his hair, gently guiding his head while he loved her gently.

Shego was going wild and she could feel the blood rushing downwards into her body, flushing her skin and expanding her sex. Soon the pleasure was accompanied by a familiar yearning, a bittersweet ache that was nestled deep inside her, begging to be filled.

"Ron… honey…" Shego gasped as she tried to get his attention.

Ron pretended not to hear and kept up his movements on her for another minute or so before Shego finally managed to find her voice.

"Please honey… inside," she muttered in a shy voice.

Ron didn't take long to respond to Shego's gentle urgings. His own actions, accompanied by her hot body and passionate moans had a very noticeable effect on his own physiology. He moved his position slightly, still keeping one hand on her, and Shego opened her legs wide to receive him. He began gently, removing his hand and moving himself softly over her, letting his manhood caress and probe at her soft flower. Almost impishly he dragged himself over her button and was rewarded with a deep throaty moan from his lover.

"Don't tease…" whimpered Shego as she bucked her hips up at him.

The look on Shego's face was a mixture of childish innocence and pure lust, in other words – completely irresistible to anyone with a 'Y' chromosome, Ron was no exception. He gently lowered himself down closer to the ground, using his hands to steady himself until he found the correct purchase. They both shuddered a little bit at that first intimate contact between their sexes and Ron took a moment to judge Shego's face. She seemed to be lost in her own little world, but not unhappily so. He wasn't a psychologist by any stretch of the imagination, but you don't make love to a woman for months and not notice the subtle tells in her behavior that she's working through some issues. He was glad to see that she seemed to be at ease, if not down right enjoying herself.

Ron leaned over the full length of Shego's body and kissed her on the lips. The kiss was returned with passion and their tongues mingled as their bodies were joined. Slowly they both began to move, if not because they wanted the pleasure to last, but because they were both mindful of Shego's current condition. The one doctor that they had seen since their arrival at Yamanouchi had told them that what they were doing was ok, if not actually preferred, but they had also been cautioned to be careful as well.

Shego leaned back, slightly arching her hips and Ron propped himself up to make more room for her and the baby. They did this for many minutes, enjoying the feeling of their bodies being united as Ron slowly built up to the bursting point. Shego took one of her hands and brought it down between their joined sexes and began to quickly rub around her sensitive button, adding the extra stimulation to the act they were performing and quickly making her approach the horizon of her own pleasure.

Shego was the first one to take off, the feeling of lightness in her body reminding her of freefall and then quickly replaced by a fast quivering inside her. Her moan of pleasure and release was so erotic that it brought about Ron's own climax and together the two of them, still joined together, basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking, the sakura blossoms still drifting down slowly on top of them.

When they finally separated and lie side by side together under the moonlight, the sweat on their bodies giving them both a slight glow that acutely accented the flush of their skin, Shego moved her body closer to Ron's and snuggled up into his chest.

"That was…" she began.

"Awesome," Ron finished for her.

They both laughed a little bit and held each other closer, Shego pulling up the side of her kimono so it haphazardly covered them both.

"Mmm… Bella," whispered Ron as he nuzzled against her neck, 'I love you so much…"

Without thinking about it, Shego responded with, "I love you too." It was so deeply ingrained in her conscious at this point that it was an automatic reflex, not that this made her statement any less true.

Ron shifted his weight and leaned over Shego, one of his hands going out to brush away some stray hairs from her face.

"I was going to wait a little bit, but I can't anymore," Ron said.

"Wait? For what?" asked Shego.

"Bella – Marry me," said Ron.

Shego laughed into his chest and then responded, "Dork – I already said 'yes'".

Ron smiled at her sheepishly.

"I know, I mean… Marry me now. Like this week, lets do it. It won't be a Jewish wedding and my mom will probably kill me, but we can throw something together for them after the fact. I just… referring to you as my 'girlfriend' or 'fiancé' doesn't cut it anymore, it doesn't even come close to describing how I feel about you. I think 'wife' sounds a lot better."

"Ron? Are you sure? I mean… will it even be legal?" asked Shego.

"Yeah well about that… I have some friends here in Japan, pretty powerful friends and they've managed to grease the wheels of the bureaucracy for me a little bit. Ok – so maybe 'grease the wheels' isn't the correct term, more like – blasted the wheels right off."

Shego giggled at this statement.

"Anyway…" Ron began.

"Anyway?" asked Shego.

"Well, I have three documents that just arrived yesterday - Japanese citizenship papers for one Ron Stoppable and a Bella Goldstein and… official marriage papers. All we have to do it sign them, then turn them in and technically we're married." Ron grinned at the look of surprise on Shego's face.

"Ron, honey – that's great but… you know I'm actually wanted in Japan…" Shego began to protest.

"Actually that would be, _were_ wanted in Japan. You've been given a full pardon, compliments of the Prime Minister who was leaned on a bit by a good friend of mine…" Ron chuckled at his own understatement.

"Who?" Shego said

Ron blushed and then muttered, "Kinjō Heika"

"Um, Ron… Once again, Who?" asked Shego.

"The Emperor," Ron stated bluntly.

Shego just blinked her eyes at him and tried to take it all in.

"Technically," Ron continued, "the Emperor doesn't really have any constitutional powers, but… well lets just say that the Japanese are a very interesting people. Custom holds a lot of sway, sometimes even more sway than the words written down on a piece of paper forced upon them by a foreign government."

"So, this means…" inquired Shego.

"You, Me, the baby… we're all citizens here, clear and legal. We might not want to leave Japan any time soon, but at least we don't have to worry about Global Justice breathing down our necks - after all I've been told that any sort of extradition attempts made against you could take a very long time, as in... an indefinately long time."

"Ron…" Shego began, but she was silenced by Ron placing his lips over hers.

Shego melted inside at the kiss of her lover and she wondered to herself if everything that had been sad in her life was going to somehow miraculously come untrue. Love, the baby, marriage… it all seemed so unreal to her, not that she didn't want it, but she had spent so long living in a reality that didn't allow her to even dream for these things that when they finally did appear for her she felt like there must be some trick, or some catch behind them.

The couple eventually broke their kiss and then stared at each others smiling faces. Ron held Shego's hand and then asked her sweetly, "Bella Goldstein, will you please be my wife?"

Shego looked at him for a moment, the love in Ron's eyes was apparent to her and she knew that in the time between when he had first sort of asked her this question and now her love for him had only grown. Her heart was light as she spoke her response.

"Yes. I'll gladly be your wife, Ron Stoppable."

Ron smiled and leaned in again to kiss his soon to be wife and when he finally pulled away he noticed that when Shego had rested on her back a small halo of sakura blossoms had accumulated near her head, like a flowery diadem gracing some sort of goddess. Ron couldn't think of a more accurate, nor fitting, description of the woman before him.

-

A/N: Well, I hope people enjoyed the sweet lime that I dropped in on this chapter. I thought about warning about it but… to hell with that. The story has been rated 'M' for weeks now so, I am not going to start worrying about adding a little smuff to my fiction. And what good smuff it was, at least in my opinion!

This is officially the biggest chapter I've ever written, clocking in at over 13,000 words. That just goes to show that the story is still strong within me I suppose. In any case, I hope people are enjoying things so far and let me know by dropping a line how you feel about my lemon-bomb in this chapter. Should I just leave it at this and not add any more scenes like this, or do I do a good enough job of working them into the story to the point where maybe one more or so might not be a bad idea.

Also did people like the relationship between Shego and Yori? I always thought that the way that I had written Shego, Kim and Yori that Shego and Yori would be much closer to each other than Kim to either of the girls. I kind of liked the way that I showed how the two women forged a bond between each other over their love for the same man as well as their own similar childhood experiences and desires. I still feel bad for Yori and I made a mental promise to myself that deep down inside me exists a fiction where the beautiful ninja is the heroine who finally gets her man. Don't worry Yo-chan, some day you'll win – I promise!

The next chapter promises to be pretty good. Monkey Fist is finally in the clutches of the Tempest Simia, Kim is going insane trying to locate Ron and she ends up crossing a line she never thought she would, Wade discovers something interesting and frightening about Shego and of course… a wedding! Boy I hope for the sake of Shego and Ron that their wedding goes off without a hitch…

Ok, sorry that was evil… I just couldn't resist! See you guys next time and as always, thanks for reading and reviewing!

QC


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – The Wedding Crashers

Kim Possible looked at her reflection in the mirror and hated what she saw. The light in the seedy motel room was bad enough, but even the darkening shadows that splayed across Kim's face couldn't hide the sallow skin or the deep bags under her eyes, or the way that her hair looked greasy and lifeless. She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself from smashing the face of the woman that was staring back out at her from the confines of the silver anodyne plated mirror.

It was Kim's fifth week on the road and her patience, her nerves and her finances were getting thin. What had started out as a simple jaunt around the globe, courtesy of her extensive ride network, had turned into one never ending string of bad meals, bad hotels and bad liquor. Now she was holed up in some roach infested Thai hotel that was so far off the beaten path that Kim was likely the first American to ever grace its register. The room was muggy and humid even with the faint breeze that blew in from the broken down window. Kim was annoyed that it didn't have a screen over it and when she laid back on the lumpy mattress of her bed she noted that already the moths… and other things, had started to congregate on the single lamp that swung listlessly from the ceiling.

"_How did I let this happen, I'm dirty, I'm broke, I'm in Thailand and I'm no closer to finding Ron or Shego than I was when I started out._"

Kim didn't like to admit it, but it was the truth. Her money was almost all gone; the trust fund that her parents had set up for her had mostly been plundered during the first two weeks to pay for food and travel accommodations in much nicer places than the one she was currently staying in. After that, she had scrimped, worked a little and drastically lowered the bar on what she considered an "acceptable" living arraignment. She tried desperately not to think of the fact that her rent and bills back at the apartment in Upperton were probably due and more than likely she would return to an eviction notice and bill collectors, only to have to face them down with the fact that she hadn't shown up for her campus job for nearly two months.

"_I should just give up. If Wade can't find him, then no one can or… maybe Ron doesn't want to be found?_"

It was a cold, hard, truth that Kim had only recently begun to accept. At first she had assumed that Ron only went with Shego out of his natural good-naturedness that almost guaranteed that he would do whatever he could to help a pregnant woman - if Shego was actually _indeed_ pregnant. Kim couldn't deny the fact that it was possible that Shego had played Ron out in that regard. However when Ron didn't immediately return, or even in the week after that, Kim's suspicious nature began to take over her every waking thoughts.

The last straw, or the clincher if you will, that thrust the entire possibility that there was something more going on than she had been aware of, was when she had paid one of her rare _in person_ visits to a Mr. Wade Load, who was busy as usual in his parents basement. Kim had to give Wade some credit, he didn't immediately collapse like he would have when he was still in middle school and it tweaked Kim that he seemed to be completely immune to her "puppy dog pout". In the end Wade was only swayed by thinly veiled threats. Kim was glad that she hadn't had to resort to physical threats of violence and was instead able to get Wade's capitulation by hinting that she could, and _would_, reveal the nature of several electronic intrusions into Global Justices's mainframe, including some strange file downloads directly from the personal electronic journal of one Dr. Betty Director. While Wade was fairly positive that Kim wouldn't roundhouse him through a wall, he was a lot less certain when it came to Dr. Director. In fact, Wade was fairly confident that if all he got was a punch or a kick from the taciturn leader of Global Justice, he would be extremely lucky.

Kim leaned over the side of her bed and retrieved an unmarked bottle that she had bought off the street for a couple of baht and then took a swig of the strange brown liquid. It burnt like fire as it hit her throat and she coughed and sputtered a little bit. Kim had reached her majority just a few months ago, but she was no stranger to alcohol. In fact, alcohol and her had something resembling a close friendship starting to blossom that had begun first as a way for her to screw up the courage to… well _screw_ Josh Mankey. Kim knew it was wrong, intellectually she understood what she was doing to her self and how she was coming to rely upon the bottle as a coping measure for her emotional stability, but she also didn't particularly feel like doing anything about it – at least right now. She just merely filed the knowledge away with a list that started with her going back to college, then progressed to paying her bills, getting a new job since she was probably fired, and ending with finding alcohol addiction counseling – all of these things that she wanted to do once she finished her primary goal.

Finding Ron.

Kim placed the bottle down to her side and then reached into the pocket of her cargo pants and pulled out her Kimmunicator. She didn't want to call Wade, or her parents, or anyone in particular – she didn't want them to see her in the process of tying one on. She just wanted to hold it and think about better times, _less_ complicated times. Times where she didn't sleep in dirty hotels on the edge of civilization and times where she knew that no matter what, she would have her best friend there to back her up.

"_It's all that bitches fault._"

Just thinking about Shego made Kim pissed as hell. She quickly took another gulp from her bottle, barely tipping her head forward enough so as to only spill a tiny trickle of the liquid down her chin. God how she wanted to pay that bitch back for everything that she had done. There were all the fights of course, all the times that she had taunted her and they had gone round and round. Then there was the "accident" at the Science Center that took _her Ron_ from her, and then there was the way that she had seemingly stolen him again just so shortly after he had returned to her life. It all started to add up in the calculus of Kim's mind to one huge mess of hatred and jealousy.

Kim stroked the case of her Kimmunicator with the tips of her fingers and then her face broke out in a malicious grin. Wade hadn't been able to give Kim a lot of information, but the stuff that he had given her was good enough for her to fill in some of the blanks in the mystery of what was going on with Ron Stoppable and in relation to that, what also was going on with the villainess named Shego. Kim was pondering these thoughts when suddenly her Kimmunicator beeped, startling her and causing her alcohol hazed nerves to drop the device to the bed. She paused for a moment as it beeped again and she tried to put a sober look on her face, hiding her bottle of unknown alcohol behind her. She reached for the device on the bed and then pressed the button.

She was relieved when she realized that the transmission was an incoming e-mail instead of a face-to-face video link and her shoulders noticeably slumped as the tension left her body. She grabbed her bottle and then started to read the message with blurry eyes.

"_Hmm… What the hell?_"

Kim was instantly about ten degrees more sober than she had a right to be considering how much she had just drank and she started to read the message again.

From: Dr. Director 

_To: Kim Possible_

_Subject: RS_

_Kim,_

_Attached to this e-mail is a diplomatic message from the Japanese government to the United States Ambassador in Japan. It concerns us, as well as your boy. Once you read it you'll understand that I can't continue to help you in the matter you are currently pursuing. _

_I'm sorry Kim. Once you find out what's going on, and I know you will, please drop me a line and let me know. I have to admit that for the first time in nearly two decades I'm completely in the dark about this._

_Betty_

_PS: That job offer is still open. Take some time reading this and then consider it._

Kim quickly tapped her Kimmunicator with her finger and then opened up the attached documents. What she saw completely stunned her – it seemed that Ron and _Shego_ of all people had been given Japanese citizenship as well as political asylum. There was little reason given for this, but there was a strongly worded request from the Japanese Prime Minister that the United States Government not attempt to extradite Shego.

"_Weird. No, not just weird… fucking bizarre. Ron I could see going Japanese, he's practically lived there ever since…_"

Kim's mouth instantly dropped open. She cursed and swore and then threw her cheap bottle of liquor against the wall of her shoddy room. It was so obvious, so terribly obvious that Kim could only continue to swear for another ten minutes before she was able to calm down enough to even begin to think of a plan of action. If Ron wanted to disappear and if he wanted to take someone with him, the most obvious place would be the _one place_ in the world where not only people seldom went to, but where everyone would fight to the death to protect him.

"_Yamanouchi. He went to Yamanouchi. Great job Kim – you've only known him for 17 years and you end up chasing your tail across the globe for over a month on this._"

Kim laid down again and instantly regretted that she had destroyed her source of liquid comfort. She wasn't sober, but she wasn't drunk enough to not feel the emotions that were assaulting her at the moment.

"_Yori is there – she loves Ron too, doesn't she? She's a good woman Kim, better than you probably, she trusts Ron, and she puts his feelings ahead of her own. You cheated on him, he's been away for so long… he's probably banging her right now. You should just pack it in and go home, take up Betty's job offer and get your life back under control. Let him carry on with ninja girl to his hearts content._"

She closed her eyes after thinking these thoughts and tried to let them sink into her heart from her mind. She knew that leaving at this point was the smart thing to do. Her life was in shambles, but she could get it back on track pretty easily. She'd have to take Betty's offer, but even that was something she had planned on doing anyway, she just had wanted to wait until after she was done with college. She knew that she could finish up her degree while still working for GJ and the pay was great, she'd be able to afford to catch up on her bills, pay her rent, repay her trust fund. Everything she needed to do, she could have done within just a few months.

Everything except for one thing of course – finding Ron Stoppable.

Obsession is never a pretty thing to watch, especially when it's a cruel kind that drives a person to do things that they wouldn't normally even contemplate. Kim knew that she was caught in the throes of it and part of her brain acted as an outside observer as she clinically watched her own actions. She knew that despite her own good advice, despite the fact that she knew what the right thing to do was, that she was already on a path that her feet couldn't leave until she had reached the end. She also knew it would put her in a collision course with both her best friend and the woman that he was protecting.

"_That bitch. If she had never shown up… if she hadn't tricked Ron… now he's with Yori and I'm here in this shit hole._"

Maybe Global Justice wouldn't continue to chase Shego across the globe, and maybe Kim would be breaking Japanese laws by trying to take her in while she was on Japanese soil, but Kim also knew that the green villainess was wanted in over a dozen countries and it would be easy to find one of them that would still be interested in having Shego in their possession. Interested enough to look the other way when it came to how she was apprehended.

Sure Shego was dangerous, even more dangerous now that her power levels seemed to be off the scale, but Kim had a solution for that. She held her Kimmunicator in her hand and cradled it gently to the side of her face. Wade Load had provided Kim not only with information about his exchange with Ron, but also with a little string of numbers and a computer program. The numbers were the specific frequency for a device and the program was one that would allow her to send commands to that same device. All Kim had to do was get within a few dozen feet of Shego and then she would be able to neutralize the woman and carry her off to the kind of fate that she deserved. Weather Shego was pregnant or not didn't matter much to Kim – Shego was a criminal and just because a criminal got pregnant didn't mean they were exempt from justice.

All it would take would be the flick of a finger and then Kim would make that Kermit bitch squirm like the overgrown frog she was.

And she'd enjoy every second of it.

-

Wade Load swore as the Virtual Private Network link that he had to Tokyo University went down for the twentieth time in three days. The secure, encrypted connection was a necessity and normally it would be fine, but for some reason it kept going down at the worst times. Wade had just been starting to download the last physical scans of Shego that the team of technicians at the Japanese Ministry of Defense had taken. Both him and Ron had pulled a few strings to get some of Japans best scientific minds on the case of the mysterious green fire and Shego had even dropped hints that once she had delivered her child that she might be amiable to doing some less than _official_ work for the Japanese spy service.

Wade let out a little cheer when the link finally came back up and he was able to resume downloading his files. As the information began to flow down to his workstation he started to scan it, trying to piece together the puzzle that was before him. The first thing that Wade noticed was the medical doctors reports on the health of the mother and child. Wade was happy to see that it seemed that both were doing fine, although the baby was absorbing quite a bit of it's mother's cosmic energy. There was probably something in the child's DNA that allowed it to be unharmed by the radiation that was present in it's mothers womb, but Wade couldn't be sure – that was a problem for a biologist or a medical doctor to solve. The thing that Wade was curious about was the energy itself and how it seemed to actually be _increasing_ as the weeks went on.

The data was inconclusive, but there were a few things that could be reasonably ascertained. The big one was that Shego's powers were definitely increasing and at a rate that was more exponential than linear. In fact she was already a magnitude more powerful now than she was when she had practically laid waste to GJ headquarters and there seemed to be no end in sight. This worried Wade immensely because he calculated that there was a finite limit to absolutely how much energy Shego's cosmically altered cells could contain and when she reached that limit… Well, wade didn't know exactly what would happen but all of the scenarios that he ran through his head ended up in unpleasant and grim ways.

Wade looked at the clock in the bottom corner of his computer monitor and then wondered why Kim hadn't called him yet. By now every major government on the planet ought to know about Shego's new citizenship and the news would be sure to reach Kim's ears, if not directly from one of them, then by either Global Justice, or even possibly the major cable news networks. He was sure that sooner or later his line would blink and he'd see the livid vision of Kim Possible spitting bullets at him demanding a ride to Japan. He knew that if it came to that, then Wade would grant Kim's request and then wash his hands of whatever was about to come. He had already talked to Ron about this possibility and both of them had decided that neither one could keep Kim from getting her way when it came to this matter. Wade didn't like it, but he could tell from the way that Ron had accentuated "_this_ _matter_", that other matters would be left up in the air… probably for Ron to resolve on his own.

"_Ron, I really hope you know what you're doing… you're playing with a ticking time bomb… two of them really._"

Shego. Kim. Both of them were unstable, but in different ways. Kim was wound up so tight these days that it was obvious to anyone that got a look at her that it wouldn't take much for her to snap into an explosion of violent energy. Shego on the other hand… if Wade was right and past experience had proven this to be likely, then Ron's soon to be new wife was _literally_ a bomb – a bomb that could explode at any moment.

Wade touched a few more keys on his keyboard and then his eyes locked onto the information that he had just downloaded from Tokyo.

"_Holy shit, more like an atomic bomb… This is bad, really, really bad._"

Wade clicked his mouse and opened up his e-mail program. He wanted to call Ron directly and give him the news, but ever since Ron had destroyed his Ronnunicator the only way that Wade had been able to get in contact with him was by passing messages a long to a mutual friend that would deliver them to Yamanouchi – the ancient ninja school evidently didn't see the need for even a phone. First Wade dragged some documents into the attachment window and then started to write his findings down. He knew that he'd have to make a case, even a vague one. Ron would be extremely bitter when he found out what Wade was about to suggest to the Japanese Ministry of Defense and Wade couldn't blame him. Shego was a danger, not only to herself or even just to Ron or the people at Yamanouchi. From what Wade was able to tell, when, not if, Shego finally blew, she would take out not only her immediate surroundings, but everything within a forty kilometer radius.

"_How can she hold all that energy inside her body? I don't understand where it's coming from, the entire thing flies in the face of physics. Think about this for a minute Wade – Original hypothesis: Shego's altered cells produce the energy and she releases it through the cells of her skin via nervous stimulation. Problems with this: There should be a finite limit to how much energy a cell could produce, total energy output should directly correlate with body mass. Secondly, energy doesn't just come from nowhere, she'd have to either convert it from consumed biomass or absorb radiation from her surroundings or the sun. Neither one of them would be able to support the power output she currently has._"

Wade stopped his tapping at his keyboard and leaned back in his chair. His arm went out for his Diet Slurge, he had switched the Diet about a year ago to compensate for his lack of physical activity, and he slurped absent-mindedly at the caffeinated beverage.

"_Ok, so it's impossible for her to generate the energy – let's start from there. If she can't create the energy then that means something else is creating it and… maybe she's just channeling it? What if… what if she's like a door, or a gate. The power comes from some place else, but her cells are attuned to it and they act like a valve letting her control how much energy is released into the world, letting her direct it at will._"

The gears in Wade's mind were working overtime now; he could feel that he was starting to catch on to something that had eluded every single person to study Shego's unique case so far. It was like a drug to the young genius, the familiar feeling of intrigue and the rush he got at the pursuit of the answer to a thorny question. The "gate" hypothesis had a lot going for it, first of all it would explain exactly how Shego was able to emit energy levels that were far out of scale compared to how much fuel she consumed and secondly it explained rather neatly why she was unable to naturally control her powers any more. It would be almost like she was a levee or a dam and the energy was a flood that was flowing over her barricades.

Wade opened up one of the documents he had received from the Japanese scientists and then started to go through the long list of data, piece by piece. No one really knew what they were looking for when it came to Shego, so they had taken the safe route and decided to capture nearly _everything_ that they could possibly detect about her and her energy emissions. The young man tapped his fingers down the list with one hand as he scrolled down with his other.

"_Radiation…tachyons… gravitons… God, why do I feel like I should know what I'm looking at?_"

Wade reached the bottom of his Diet Slurge and he swore a little bit. He had emptied his mini-fridge just this afternoon and his parents were getting on his case about him calling the 24-hour Internet grocery at all hours of the night. Mr. and Mrs. Load were understanding parents, but even they tended to get irate when a delivery man ignored Wade's instructions and rang the door bell at 3am in the morning. His mom would constantly harp at him, saying "if only you'd get your drivers license then you could feed that black hole of a stomach of yours without bothering anyone."

Wade blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes and stared at the computer screen.

"_Black Hole? What is a black hole anyway? A singularity in space and time, where both things are so condensed they actually bend the fabric of the universe. You can throw anything into a black hole and it'll never come out, it'll be crushed into a unit of measurement so small we can't even imagine how to measure it._"

Wade continued to stare at the numbers before him.

"_Or… does it? We know some things escape from the front of the hole… I wonder, what comes out the back? I wonder… where's the end of a black hole?_"

Wade chewed on the end of his straw as he contemplated this new line of thinking. He copied some of the information into his email, ran a few calculations over in his mind and then did some adjustments to the letter he was writing. He was actually surprised at himself, surprised that his fingers were shaking a little bit as he typed out the words and surprised that he couldn't figure out a way to avert the disaster that he saw on the horizon.

_… explosive force currently unable to be measured… folding in of local space… graviton tidal waves…_

Wade sighed a little bit as he typed his final conclusion.

_Total annihilation of all matter within thirty to fifty astronomical units._

Wade's mouse pointer hovered over the "Send" button for a lonely minute, almost as if by delaying sending the message he could somehow delay the fate that he saw in store for all of humanity. There were no easy answers, it wasn't even as if they could kill Shego and save themselves, in fact all that was likely to do was release all the energy that she was currently keeping dammed away. He couldn't shake the feeling that his original assessment of the situation had been ironically correct.

Shego was a bomb all right, a bomb like no one had ever seen before – and if Wade was right, quite likely no one would be alive to ever see again.

-

With her bloated feet, her sore breasts and suspiciously duck like waddle that grew more pronounced every day, Shego didn't feel like the harbinger of the destruction of humanity, but she certainly didn't feel like a human being either. Thankfully the morning sickness had all but stopped so she no longer felt like she wanted to die every time she woke up, but with the repeal of sentence of nausea came another unique part of pregnancy that until now she hadn't really been able to appreciate.

She was hungry and she ate… a lot.

It started out happily enough. She had awoken one morning feeling pretty good, bloated feet considered, and had announced rather happily to Ron that she was absolutely starving. He had laughed at her at first, playfully tickling her and promising that for today he would cook her a special breakfast and they would eat separately from the rest of the students at the school.

Two hour later, the fear in Ron Stoppable's eyes could not be hidden. The woman before him, the love of his life, the mother of his child, the beautiful goddess he had fallen in love with, had devoured enough food to feed the offensive line of Middleton High's Mad Dog's football team.

And she was still going strong.

Shego caught the odd look that Ron was giving her and locked him with a challenging stare.

"What Ron? Do you have something to say?" she asked.

Ron was thankful that he had if not experience with this particular phenomena, enough maturity to know that his first response to her wouldn't be well received, so he went with the second thing that came into his head.

"Do you want more honey?" he asked sweetly.

Shego looked at Ron for a long moment. She knew what he wanted to say and she couldn't really disagree with him. She was acting like a pig, but frankly – she didn't care.

"_It's for the baby anyway_." It was the first time she had thought those words, but it definitely wouldn't be the last. Every cheese pizza she ate, every pint of ice cream she knocked down and every bag of salty junk food she devoured would be met with the same rejoinder – "It's for the baby."

Shego wiped an errant trail of melted cheese from the corner of her mouth and then smiled at Ron.

"Yes please!" Shego said as she smiled sweetly at the man who had done this to her.

Today, as she crawled out of bed and reached for her kimono she knew that this morning would probably be no different. She was actually glad that her and Ron were getting married now as opposed to in another month or two, at least now she could hide a little bit of the bulge in her belly, but if they had waited… well Ron wouldn't look so much like he was marrying her, but like he was taming Shamu.

Suddenly Shego felt a pair of arms circle around her "second waist" – the part of her anatomy she had made up after her "first waist" had all but disappeared, and she felt her self being dragged back down into the bed.

"Ron!" she giggled.

"You'll never get away with it Shego! I, Ron Stoppable – super ninja and secret agent will make you pay for your crimes!" Ron said in an overly theatrical voice.

Shego turned onto her side and then looked face to face with her husband to be. He always looked so cute in the mornings, with his little bit of blonde stubble and his hair all disheveled, he looked more like a boy than a man into the middle of his third decade.

"Oh ho ho! And what crimes may these be?" she purred.

Ron grinned at Shego and then grabbed her hand from his chest and brought it down across his body until it nestled in his lap.

"The crime of letting this go to waste!" he taunted her as he reached in for a deep kiss.

Shego returned the kiss passionately. It was one of the things that she really loved about Ron. He was sexy and playful and even when she felt like she was not quite as attractive as she could be, he could somehow make her feel desired and sexy her self.

"Baby… we don't have time for that today," Shego said in a little pout, "… but you know, after the ceremony…"

Ron's eyes lit up at the promise from his bride. Even though they had spent every night since arriving at Yamanouchi together, there seemed to be something almost magical about the idea of the two of them consummating their marriage with the physical act of intimacy. Intellectually he didn't expect it to be mind blowing, especially given Shego's current physical state. But emotionally… he was pretty sure it'd be magic. Still, he wanted to tease her a little bit.

He leaned in again to Shego's face and then tenderly bit her lip between his own, pulling it away from her face and causing her to close her eyes to enjoy the play between them.

"Ron… I'm serious, you may not have a lot to do but I literally needed to get started half an hour ago." Shego pouted.

The look that Ron gave her almost made her melt into butter. She absently stroked him through his pajama pants and then pondered if she could really afford to waste another hour or so of the day. Ron moaned a little bit at her touch and Shego instantly found her self a little turned on and her willpower wavering – the sound of his voice that way always got her own fires going.

"_I could stay… maybe if I skip breakfast. Ugh… I can't believe I'm contemplating that_."

Suddenly an impish grin came over Shego's face as an idea sprung into her head. She kissed Ron hard and her fingers wrapped around the top of his pajama bottoms, slowly dragging them down to expose what she was looking for. Ron went to make a move for her own panties, but Shego pushed his hand away.

"Ah ah ah! I said we didn't have time for that this morning baby…" Shego purred at him.

Ron had a baffled look of confusion on his face as he stared at her and it wasn't until he noticed where her head was going that he finally understood what she was going to do.

An hour later as Shego and Yori were struggling to try and wrap the wedding kimono around Shego's pregnant belly, Shego let out a little giggle.

"What is it She-chan?" asked Yori as she pulled tighter on the wrappings around Shego's midsection.

"Oh nothing… Just thinking about today, about this morning… " Shego replied offhandedly.

"_And wondering if it's possible for pregnant women to have cravings for _**_that_," **she added in her mind.

"This is your big day She-chan, I can understand feeling a little giddy," responded the demure ninja, "To be honest… I'm feeling excited as well!"

It was true. Over the last month or so Yori had found that while she still loved Ron, she had come to be at peace with the fact that he was going to spend his life with Shego. It helped that Yori had come to understand the older woman and had come to catch just a small glimpse of what her relationship with Ron meant to her. Yori knew that unlike Kim, Shego would never take Ron's affections for granted. The two of them were sisters in this way; they both understood the pains of feeling like love would never call for them.

"Ugh!" groaned Shego as Yori tried to wrap the layers of the wedding kimono tighter on her frame.

"Sorry She-chan, here let me loosen this up a little bit…" said Yori, trying not to overtly say anything about the fact that Shego looked like she was trying to smuggle a soccer ball in her lap.

The older woman just rolled her eyes. "It's ok… I know, trust me I know. I feel it every morning when I wake up!" Shego exclaimed with mock indignity.

"He's lucky he's marrying me or I might be tempted to track him down for this!" she added with a wink.

Yori laughed lightly and then began to straighten the obi around Shego's waist. The sash was just as white as the kimono was and it was embroidered in birds and flowers in a delicate gentle thread – the garment was beautiful and Shego was surprised that Ron had been able to find it on such short notice. Yori would have been even more surprised if she had known the true nature of the garment and who had loaned it to Shego for the wedding, as it was all the two women knew is that a "friend" had provided it and Ron had promised that it would be returned in pristine condition.

"So what's next?" asked Shego as she studied her reflection in the mirror.

Yori came up behind Shego and glanced at her in the mirror as well, the shorter woman's chin just barely above the taller woman's shoulder.

"Hair, then the headdress… you need to see it, it's amazing. Then makeup…" Yori trailed off her voice; Shego wasn't a big fan of make-up. She would often joke that it concealed her inner "Kermit-ness"

Shego turned to face Yori and said, "Everything is going to be ok, right? I feel so…"

She grasped around for the right words, but they seemed to escape her every time one came close to the tip of her tongue.

"Nervous?" offered Yori.

Shego nodded, "I guess that's it… I just can't put my finger on the right phrase."

Yori hugged Shego, bringing her close in for a long embrace.

"Ron loves you," she whispered in her ear.

"I know, I love him too… it's not that, not really. I'm just worried about so many things right now. I worry about us of course, but I also worry about the baby, I worry about this entire living situation… I just can't believe it'll last." Shego was starting to get frantic now and she was picking at the sleeves of her gown.

"Stop that She-chan," said Yori as she placed her hands over Shego's in an effort to calm her down.

"Oh the dress… how stupid of me," said Shego in a depressed voice.

"No, not the dress… well yes, the dress, but really… You're thinking too much about this. What's really bothering you?" asked Yori.

Shego looked away for a moment as she retreated into her memories and feelings, groping around for the meaning behind her emotions.

"I guess… I just never really believed this would happen to me. Did I tell you that when I was a teenager the doctors, they told me I'd never have children because of the accident?" she said.

Yori shook her head. She didn't know this information.

"They were obviously wrong She-chan," said Yori as she patted Shego playfully on the tummy. It was apparent to anyone who observed her that she was carrying a new life.

"I know, but still… it made me give up on it. It made me give up on a lot of things, not just babies… or being a mother. It just started a big snowball that carried on down hill gaining speed until it was a giant boulder that was out of control. When I was a little girl I thought – well it sounds so absolutely Jewish, but I wanted to marry a doctor. I had the entire wedding planned out in my head, I even knew the kind of house we would live in."

"So… are you upset that things didn't turn out like how you imagined they would?" asked Yori, a hint of concern in her voice.

Shego shook her head and emphatically said, "No!"

"I love Ron, I really do and… I want to get married to him. It's just, I guess I'm still afraid that someone is going to walk through that door and look me dead straight in the eyes and tell me that all this happiness just… isn't for me." Shego sighed as she said this. It was a little painful to say, but she did feel better after having articulated her feelings into words.

Yori gave Shego a wry grin and then said, "If anyone does that then you know what we'll do?"

Shego shook her head.

"They'll find out not to mess with a woman on her wedding day!" exclaimed Yori as she dropped into a ninjitsu pose.

Shego laughed at Yori's antics and instantly she felt some of the concern melting away from her body.

"You'd do that for me?" she asked.

Yori straightened up and tapped Shego on the shoulder with her open palm in a gesture of friendship.

"Of course, us girlfriends have to stick together!" she impishly responded.

Shego smiled at her friend and then started tear up. The entire situation was frankly quite amazing for her. Love, a husband, a baby and now a best friend… she felt like she was in a warm cocoon of emotion that cradled her and fed her happiness.

"Ha ha, sorry…" she said as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. One of Yori's hands went up to Shego's cheeks and brushed away some of the waterworks.

"It's ok She-chan, better to let it out now than after I've put half a kilo of powder on your face," chuckled Yori.

"What!" exclaimed Shego, her tears being momentarily forgotten.

Yori grinned wickedly at Shego as she retrieved a huge tin from one of the many bags that littered the room.

"It's part of the _traditional_ wedding costume. I know you really want to follow _tradition_, don't you, She-chan?" giggled Yori as she turned to face the now frightened woman.

Shego gulped a little bit and she took a tentative step backwards as the petite ninja advanced on her across the room.

"You know what Yo-chan… Ron isn't all that big on tradition…." Shego tried to protest.

Yori raised her eyebrows in a questioning look and said, "Oh really? I would have sworn I heard him say how excited he was to have a _traditional_ Japanese wedding. In fact I heard him discussing photography with Hirotaka and how he wanted to make sure that there were plenty of pictures of his _traditional_ wedding to show his friends and family."

Shego felt her back brush up against the wall and she realized that she was cornered, with nowhere to go.

"Um… help?" she finally said just moments before she gave up.

-

Monty Fiske looked at the leaky craft that had been his only form of transport for the last two weeks and was instantly glad to be on dry land again. Being as he was cut off from his normal retainers and means of income due to his remote location, he had no choice but to rely upon the primitive method of transportation. Truthfully it wasn't as bad as it looked, but that wasn't hard to believe considering the boat looked like it should have sank to the bottom of the sea years ago.

"_I almost wish it had sank to the bottom of the sea, taking me with it. God help me I can't resist any more, I need the power… God help me… God help me…_"

Fiske chanted this in his head for long minutes as he traveled up the slope of the remote sandy beach. He had tried so many ways to kill himself, to end his suffering, only to be thwarted time and time again by the demon he carried in his chest. He had thought that his plan to starve himself to death would have been one of the few things he could do that even the idol couldn't prevent – but he had been wrong. At first he didn't realize that the artifact was feeding him energy and he thought merely that starving to death took longer than he had originally imagined. However eventually he began to feel it, the power… entering his body and repairing the damage that his starvation was doing to him.

It took him days to notice how this was happening, but when he did he was horrified. People may not have thought of Montgomery Fiske as a particularly benevolent individual but that was mostly because very few people had ever gotten to know a couple of key aspects of his personality. For starters – he was an avowed naturalist and even before he had begun to quest after the Monkey Power, he had spent millions of pounds on nature refuges and other projects to help protect native wildlife across the world. Secondly, and probably most surprising to people, he was a strict vegetarian – not because of health reasons, although he did approve of keeping ones body in harmony, but because of the ethical ramifications of eating animals. The idea of raising a creature in captivity only to slaughter it for sale was abhorrent to the creature that considered himself more animal than man.

He was disgusted when he realized that the dead animals that kept turning up wherever he traveled was due to him, or more accurately, due to the idols efforts to keep him alive.

Fiske finally made it to the tree line and felt a small rivulet of sweat drip down his face. The trip across the sea in the boat had been cold and he had wrapped himself in blankets and rags that he had found in order to stave off the chill. Now that he had arrived at his destination he quickly tore them off and then stretched out momentarily to his full height to feel the gentle breeze crawl across his fur covered body. It felt good, almost as if he was free…

He hunched down on the ground on all fours and started to lope through the forest. He had many kilometers to travel before he reached his destination and he knew that the idol would drive him mercilessly if he didn't take initiative on his own. He cursed his own weakness, but then closed off his mind to that train of thought – it would do him no good to think such things where the idol could overhear them. The smell of the woods was familiar to him and he let its nostalgic scent seep into his consciousness before he completely closed himself off beneath the iron walls of his mind. Almost automatically his body took to the trees and soon he was moving amongst them with a supernatural speed that belied his huge frame.

"_How long has it been since I have smelled this scent? Years… decades? Has it really been that long? Why didn't I come back here before then? I had the time, or at least I thought I did… Was everything I did that important where I couldn't find the time for these simple joys_?"

The woods, the countryside, Japan… he loved it here. True, the cities here were just like cities all over the world - humanity infested and drenched in sin, filth and refuse. But the country… it was still clean, it was still vibrant and it echoed in his mind like the roar of a falls tumbling across rocks. Although he was currently detached from his body, he could almost feel the natural strength of the land seeping into his limbs, rejuvenating his battered form and weary muscles.

"_I've made so many mistakes – so many terrible mistakes. If I could only do everything all over again I would never have left here. I would have roamed free, in the wild with my brothers. I would have lived my life in harmony. But now… now it's too late. There's nothing I can do, no way to stop this… monster inside of me._"

The pain in Fiske's heart was so deep that his body reacted to it even though he wasn't currently in control. The hulking man-ape that had once been Montgomery Fiske stopped its relentless travel for a mere moment and then let out a sorrowful cry from the top of a tree. Beasts from all around heard the wail and stopped for a moment, perhaps in sympathy or perhaps wondering what new creature had entered their domain.

The control that the idol had been able to exert over Fiske's body in recent days frightened the ape-man to no end. He knew, without a doubt, that from the beginning he had been fighting a losing battle but now that he was faced with his own personal Waterloo, he found the experience too bitter to swallow. Still, there was a chance, a small ghost of a chance, that he could find his way to end of this dark tunnel. The only problem was that his hopes at this point rested on the one person that he hated the most.

Ron Stoppable.

Oh how Fiske loathed that name and the man who bore it. He hated him with every fiber of his being and wished nothing more than to break his body in two with his own hands. His loathing for Stoppable had begun when the imbecile had stolen the precious Monkey Power from him and only increased as he continued to bumble his way through life, ignoring and disrespecting the sacred gift he had purloined. Most people, perhaps even Ron himself, would have been surprised to know that the primary reason for Fiske's dislike of the tow headed young man wasn't jealousy, or even rage at being denied what he had claimed was rightfully his, but because the fool had taken for granted the ancient power instead of treating it like the blessing it was.

"_He was never worthy of it, was he? No… not at the beginning. He hated the power, he suppressed it, he hid it from the world. Why did fate choose him instead of me? Why was such a simpleton entrusted with something so precious? Even at the end, when we battled for our lives against each other, he refrained from touching it – does it disgust him that much? Does he hate it that much? Such arrogance, such idiocy…_"

Fiske's body flew through the air as he crossed the mountain stream before him – eleven meters was not such a great distance for him in his current state. His hands and feet pounded into the ground with the force of rocks and he tore up turf as he took off once again, climbing up the slopes of Mt. Yamanouchi.

"_Yamanouchi… so many defeats here. Is it too much perhaps to ask for one more? Even if it needs to be at the hands of that fool… And it needs to be, right? That's what this is all about isn't it… the final test, the test for that idiot. Oh how I've been used and now that I finally realize it, there is nothing I can do – why did the power betray me so much when all I did was worship it_?"

He had no answers for these questions but he asked them anyway. On his approach to Japan from China he had been given ample time to retreat into his brain and contemplate the mysteries of his life. He had come to a conclusion, a most unwanted one, that fate had more than a little hand in setting up Monkey Fist as Ron Stoppables nemesis. It galled him to think about it, but with every battle, every defeat, every foiled plan, he had caught glimpses of what was in store for him and he knew now that he was approaching the school in the distance that everything that he had done, everything that he had suffered for, had only been a prelude to what was about to come.

And everything had been done for the sake of testing Ron Stoppable.

The walls of the Yamanouchi School loomed in the distance and Fiske's body expertly darted from cover to cover with a speed that defied description. Within this compound was his goal and he hoped… possibly his salvation. He hated, no – despised, what he had become and as much as he was loathe to admit it his only chance to escape the cruel fate that had been thrust upon him by the malicious artifact that was nestled in his sternum was to embrace an earlier fate that had decreed that so long as Ron Stoppable and Montgomery Fiske walked the same Earth, that Fiske would serve as nothing more than an object lesson, a test if you will, for the Chosen One.

If Fiske were lucky, then Stoppable would kill him. If he was unlucky… well there were few things worse than an eternity staring into the gibbering maw of madness.

The leap that brought him up and over the outer wall was so quick that it was impossible for the lone sentry to track until Fiske was already upon him. It was unfortunate for the young man that he had been chosen for this duty this evening, but Fiske did his best to make sure that the man's death was as painless as possible. He somehow suspected that having ones neck broken was preferable to having your soul ripped from your body so he had granted the man what he, himself, would have desired.

"_I can smell him… no, I can TASTE him… no… not him, the power… it does have his scent on it… does this mean he has finally begun to master it_?"

Fiske jealously hid these thoughts from the intruder in his mind. It was the proverbial ace up his sleeve. He knew that somehow the idol had developed a taste for the Monkey Power – to what ends, he didn't know. But still, what he could understand was enough to be sure of one thing; the idol had no idea what exactly it was thirsting after. Fiske had been able to catch snatches and glimpses of the alien thought process of the artifact. To say that it wasn't human wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface of the pseudo-mind that inhabited the Tempus Simia, but despite all that there were a few things that Monkey Fist had been able to discern over the long weeks it had inhabited his body and mind.

It was hungry.

It held nothing but hatred.

It was ignorant of anything but hunger and hatred.

To Fiske, these were the keys that would allow him to escape his prison of servitude. The idol hungered for the Monkey Power. The idol hated anything that possessed it. The idol was ignorant that these feelings were Fiske's and the reason as to why he had held them.

Internally he smiled to himself. It was clever, so very clever of him – the way that he had poisoned the idol just as it had poisoned him. The malicious spirit fed Fiske's body the addictive energy, corrupting his form and his will, but Fiske fed the artifact as well. He had fed it emotions – pride, jealousy, envy, and covetousness. The idol held limitless evil, but a very limited intellect. It was, after all, a thing created by men and as such they had not deemed it necessary to instill brilliance into their creation. Because of this Fiske had been able to subtly feed his own feelings to the idol, feelings that were just as alien to it as the idols thought process was to Fiske. So alien it seemed, that the idol had been caught completely unaware of what was going on.

Sure, the idol may control their corporeal body, but Fiske had his own way to exert his influence on the idol – Pride.

Montgomery Fiske's pride was legendary. It was something that defined him, shaped him, focused his efforts and made him bent his will to accomplishing the unachievable. The idol was unaware of it, but Fiske's pride had also become a part of it's own personality and when the time came, Fiske was going to make sure that the call of pride was heeded. There would be no tricks, there would be no mystical energy attacks, and there would be no tampering with the time stream in order to achieve victory.

When the time finally came, and it looked to be quickly approaching, Fiske would scream his pride into the artifact and it would buckle. It would fight Ron Stoppable nail and tooth, fist and claw for the pride of defeating him.

As the creature formerly known as Montgomery Fiske slipped past the last guard into the compound proper, he knew that he would be able to play his part in this grand drama. When he was called upon to recite his lines, he would not miss a beat. When the clarion call of battle finally sounded in his ears he would fight with his all and perhaps, just maybe, the only person in the world who could stop him and the monster he had become would achieve their final destiny - the destiny of the Ultimate Monkey Master.

-

Ron Stoppable nervously waited at the Shinto alter. To anyone who looked at him it would appear that he was talking to himself, muttering into his silk gi, but the truth was far weirder than that. He was talking to his best man - a tiny pink naked mole rat named Rufus.

"Wow Rufus I never thought this day would come…" whispered Ron.

Rufus nodded solemnly and added his own commentary, "Hnk! Shego!"

"Yeah… I mean, who would have saw that coming? I mean… everyone expected Kim and Kim and maybe a few others expected Yori… but I can tell you that no one except possibly a few nerds on the Internet would have expected this." Ron replied.

Rufus patted Ron on the chest and gave him the thumbs up.

"Thanks pal, I know I'm doing the right thing and I really love her. I just really can't believe all of this."

Rufus was about to say something but he stopped short as all the heads in the shrine turned to the back of the room in unison. Ron's own gaze was drawn to where everyone was looking if not by sheer force of collectivism, then by the powerful feeling that if he ever did anything right in his life, greeting his bride with a smile on this day, at this moment, was the most important thing he'd do for a long time.

She looked beautiful of course. The kimono flattered her, the white powdered make up and intricate headdress made her look exotic and regal, even her bearing as she walked down the aisle towards him brooked no doubt that this was her moment. Ron instantly understood why weddings were often considered the woman's day – the way Shego commanded the attention of all the people in the room was impressive to say the least.

As Shego strode up beside him and turned her head to smile at him, Ron felt his heart skip a beat. He wanted to stammer something, to say how beautiful she looked, to say how much he loved her, but the words were caught in his throat. All he could manage to do was smile at her – his warmest and most heartfelt smile.

The aged Shinto priest that had been brought in to officiate the ceremony cleared his throat and held up a small sheaf of papers in front of his face. The papers contained the chants that him and they were supposed to read during the opening part of the ceremony. Soon the man was intoning the chant, invoking the spirits of the Kami to bless and protect the new couples union. Ron understood what the man was saying, but Shego just stared blankly ahead, occasionally turning her face to Ron and squeezing his hand.

"_Poor Bella, we'll have to do this again for our friends and family… and hopefully in English. I don't know if she speaks Hebrew or not_"

Eventually the time came for the couple to recite their own part of the ceremony and the priest held the papers in front of them. Ron had coached her through the words they were supposed to chant, but he took the lead and used his louder voice to smooth over and missed words and stumbles that Shego did so that she wouldn't feel embarrassed. When they finally reached the end of their prayer, the priest retrieved the scroll from their hands and then finished up his last part of the chant. There was a physical invocation – a blessing again, with the branch of a tree. Ron wasn't an expert on Shinto, so he didn't recognize what it was, or it's significance. After this final act, the priest stepped back and then retrieved the bottle of sacred rice wine that they were to use for the final "three by three" ceremony.

A long wooden shelf had been brought into the shrine and upon it rested many empty cups. The priest hovered over them, chanting words in Japanese as he poured the rice wine into the empty vessels. The symbolism with this act was heavy and Ron had explained it to Shego several times in the last few days. Together, along with their family, they would share the cups of wine with each other, symbolizing the joining of their lives and their two families. Master Sensei had agreed to fill in for Ron's own family and Shego had asked Yori to do the same for her – a task that the younger woman had readily agreed to.

Ron was happy that Yori and Shego seemed to be getting a long so well. At first he had been worried that there would be a fight once Yori learned the true nature of his relationship with Shego, but instead the petite ninja had taken it in stride. That probably would have been enough for Ron, but Shego had surprised him and taken things a step further – she had actively tried to befriend Yori. It was something that Kim really hadn't bothered to do and if she had then the entire incident with Mankey would probably have been avoided. If only Kim had come to know Yori like Ron had, then she would have realized long ago that Yori was less of a threat than she had imagined. In fact in the face of Shego's friendship Yori was completely harmless and possibly just as smitten with her new girlfriend as she had been with Ron. It was awkward to say the least, but Ron didn't' complain about it – even after living over two hundred years he knew that when it came to women he would never know enough to understand them completely.

The thing that had probably cemented the burgeoning friendship between the two women was something that Ron would never have considered. It happened only a couple of days ago, just after Ron had finally properly proposed to Shego. They were all having dinner, a small celebratory one for the impending nuptials, when Shego had proclaimed that she had a "Special announcement and a favor to ask." Ron's interested was instantly peeked and he was nearly bowled over with what his wife-to-be had said.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone for supporting Ron, the baby and myself. I don't think any of you will ever know just how much this has meant to me and I know that I don't have the words to express it. Secondly I have come to a decision about something that has been puzzling me for quite some time now," Shego had said.

She then looked around the room for a moment and continued her little speech.

"When you become a mother, or in my case – a mother to be, you start to worry about the safety and the future of your child. Some things, often unpleasant things, that you don't want to think about suddenly become very important and it causes you to really reflect on your life and what your future holds. One thing that I think is very important is securing the future of your children and doing that means not only being able to provide for them financially, but emotionally as well."

Shego reached under the table and held Ron's hand while she prepared to speak again.

"In our culture we have a tradition of naming people to take care of our children in case something is to happen to us before they grow up. We call these people 'Godparents' and while you cannot force someone to accept such a responsibility, as a parent you feel like you must ask anyway, for the sake of the life you are bringing into the world"

Shego turned from Ron's side and faced Yori, who was sitting to her right.

"Yori, I would like it very much if you would consider doing this for Ron and I. I cannot think of anyone else who I could trust so much, or who would love our baby as much as we do. Will you do this, for us?" asked Shego.

Yori's lips visibly began to quiver and she uttered in a meek voice, "Thank you for trusting me with your precious thing."

The two women, completely oblivious to the three men in the room, embraced each other and then quickly collapsed into a blubbering mess. Ron ruefully admitted that he himself was pretty close to tears as well. Never had he thought in his wildest dreams that these two women would get along so well. He was happy, for both of them.

The memory of that night made Ron feel warm inside and the seriousness in Shego's voice and the way that she spoke for both of them to their friends made him feel confident that he was absolutely doing the right thing. As the priest passed the cups back and forth between the couple and their "families" he continued his chanting. The transaction happened again with a subtle change of order and then finally culminated with both Ron and Shego holding the last cup in front of them, their hands joined around it and their eyes locked.

A soft look passed between them and then with solemnity that bespoke the seriousness in their hearts about the vow they were about to undertake, they raised the flat saucer to their two lips and took turns gently tipping the drink towards each other. When the final sip had passed between Shego's lips, they both placed the cup down on the flat wooden shelf, the priest finished his chanting and they turned to face the assembled group.

Together, hand in hand, they bowed deeply their friends and well-wishers. At first Ron thought that the crowd was clapping, but there was a problem with that – this wasn't the appropriate time for such a display. By the time his feet shifted on the ground and both him and Shego had felt the earth move, he realized that something was wrong. Deadly wrong.

"Ron!" shouted Shego as she clutched to her new husbands arm.

Ron wasted no time in acting and quickly began to drag Shego through the back of the shrine. Part of him wanted to stay and aid his friends and fellow students, but he rationalized in his head that anyone who felt confident enough to attack a compound full of ninja's would be intent on only one thing – killing, and Ron wasn't about to let his wife or their child be caught in the crossfire.

As the couple ducked around a pillar that lead towards the gardens behind the shrine they heard a piercing animalistic howl that echoed off the walls with a force that they felt in their bones.

"What the hell is that?" asked Shego, the tone of panic obvious in her voice.

Ron wished he had an answer for her, but the best he could offer at this time was a weak, "I don't know." He pulled his wife along the stone path towards the back wall and to a tiny secluded area that was out of sight of the main building.

"Ron, go find out what's going on," Shego said.

Ron looked at her puzzled.

"But… You and the baby?" he asked.

"Ron, those are our friends in there. I might be pregnant but I'm far from helpless," Shego stated.

To emphasize her point she held up her right hand and with a subtle mental effort willed the green fire to engulf her hand. It had been a long time since she had used the power, but it came readily enough… even if it was accompanied by a slight feeling of nausea. The momentary sickness bothered Shego, but she didn't want Ron to think anything was wrong so she hid the discomfort behind a determined grimace. There'd be time for her to figure out what was going on with her body later, after this new and unwelcome threat had been dealt with.

Ron gently grabbed Shego's wrist and moved her hand to the side so that he could close the distance between them and kiss her full on the lips. The heavy makeup she had been wearing for the ceremony came off on Ron's face and it caused her to giggle a little bit as she dabbed at his mouth with her fingers. Ron just brushed her hand aside and kissed her again. He didn't care what he looked like, he only cared about kissing his wife.

"I'll be back," he said as he turned around, leaping and bounding across the open space of the garden.

"_I hope that wasn't a joke_." Shego mused as she leaned back against the garden wall, looking down for a moment at her kimono.

"_I can't ruin this… and I might have to if things go bad. Even if it's risky, I'd rather go full power than risk definitely being killed by someone…_"

Shego heard the animal cry again, its vicious wail burrowing into her heart.

"_Or some thing…_"

Shego removed her headdress and placed it on the ground between the wall and the stone garden shed. Then she untied her obi and stripped down to her under garments, folding the kimono expertly and placing it with the other discarded item. When she activated her power, everything within a few feet would probably be instantly vaporized, including the remaining clothes she was wearing.

"_Wait… what about the device_?"

Shego's hand went up to her neck where the device that Drakken had created rested. Putting it on had been a tricky proposition involving a robotic arm, magnetic shielding and a lot of patience. She couldn't just rip it off – doing so would probably destroy it and destroy the only thing that was keeping her somewhat human. She could probably dial down its restraining influence… but doing so might cause too much power to escape and it would merely just be blasted off her body.

Her hand went up around her neck and she hesitated as her fingers fell upon the dial.

"_I'll wait. There's no obvious need now and maybe I can avoid doing anything at all._"

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," came the voice from above her.

Shego spun around, her hands instantly igniting and she crouched as best as she could given her burgeoning stomach. Her eyes scanned upwards and instantly she found the person who had issued the taunt.

"Princess…" Shego's voice drolled.

Kim Possible was absolutely the last person that Shego wanted to face down right now. She was five months pregnant, hadn't practiced in weeks and unsure about the stability of her powers. As much as it hurt her pride, she wished that Ron was present to deal with Kim. Maybe he'd be able to talk some sense into her.

The double back flip and the kick that struck her in the shoulder made Shego reconsider the entire idea of talking to Kim. She lashed out with her fists, arcing a wide spray of green plasma through the air that Kim expertly avoided.

"You're getting slow tons of fun," mocked Kim as she rolled to Shego's left, launching out a low sweeping strike that swept the older woman from her feet.

Shego's hands instantly went to her belly as she stumbled backwards into the stone wall. She banged her head on a protruding piece of masonry and felt the pain rocket through her skull. She was only dimly aware that Kim was launching into another devastating kick, but somewhere deep inside her she managed to find the coordination and strength to protect herself and her baby by bringing her hands up to catch Kim's foot.

Kim hesitated for a moment – normally her counter in this sort of situation would be for her to use her other leg to kick off her opponent's chest, but doing so would mean that she would land her kick on the obviously pregnant Shego's belly. Kim had thought that the fact that Shego may, or may not have been pregnant wouldn't have made any difference to her when it came to bringing the villainess in. Reality however was a little different – as much as Kim positively loathed Shego, she wasn't quite so sure about doing anything that would obviously injure her innocent unborn child.

This was all the hesitation that Shego needed to launch a counter attack. Her hands that were wrapped around Kim's leg instantly ignited and the air was filled with the sound of burning flesh and screams of pain. Shego wasn't fooling around with Kim any more, not when it came to protecting the life that she was carrying inside her. She threw the redheaded hero to the ground and then followed up with a vicious plasma blast that Kim was only partially able to resist due to the advanced material of her battle suit. Shego brought back her right hand over her head, gathering the energy around her fist in a giant ball of emerald flame. Ron would be unhappy with her, but eventually he would understand.

The baby came first.

"_Goodbye Kimmie_."

Shego went to bring her fist down to unleash the fire, the muscles in her shoulder and arm tensed. But then, much to her surprise, nothing happened. She caught the look on Kim's face – the woman was grinning at her with a malicious smile that sent fear deep into Shego's heart. Kim was holding a device, Shego recognized it instantly – the Kimmunicator, and she was pointing it directly at her.

"Not bad, not bad at all," said Kim with a sarcastic tone of voice.

Kim tried to stand up, the material on her battle suit had morphed to cover the burn wound that Shego had given her but still it was too fresh for her to completely be able to support her weight. She grimaced in pain and swore under her breath.

"You're going to pay for that Kermit," growled Kim as she steadied herself.

Her finger traced the touch screen of her Kimmunicator, hovering gently over the slider that controlled the nervous response signals that were given by the device that Shego was wearing around her neck. All it would take would be a gentle tap, or perhaps a slip of her thumb and then Shego would know all about the pain and humiliation that Kim had experienced ever since Ron had left her alone and holding the bag… and all of it over the manipulations of this vile bitch that was in front of her.

"_No, as much as I want to… she's pregnant. It would hurt the baby, maybe kill it. I can't have that on my conscience._"

Kim put the Kimmunicator back in her belt pouch and then began to study Shego for a minute. If she hadn't known the woman was incredibly dangerous she would have felt pity for her with her near naked form and ballooning stomach. She looked pretty comical frozen in mid motion like she was Kim couldn't find it in her to laugh.

Suddenly a loud sound came from behind Kim and she turned around fast enough just to catch the deluge of flying debris that hung momentarily in the air while one of the buildings in the compound seemingly exploded. Her first instinct, probably her world saving instinct, wanted to compel her to investigate the source of the commotion, but she gritted her teeth. She knew that Ron was probably around here someplace, but if she met up with him now then he'd probably argue with her over Shego and Kim wanted to make sure that the villainess was behind bars before she had her little talk with Ron Stoppable.

"All right greenie," said Kim as she attempted to heft the older woman over her shoulder. Without the support of the synthetic muscle fibers built into the battle suit Kim would barely had been able to accomplish this feat even without her injured leg. However fully enhanced like she was, Shego felt like a toddler in her arms as she began to make her way from the compound.

"I've got an old friend of yours who wants to meet you again pretty badly. You'll probably remember him – a certain Sultan in Saudi Arabia who's first born son you turned into a paraplegic."

If Shego had been able to move any of her muscles her face probably would have contracted in a grimace, as it was the fear was only visible in her eyes. All she could do at this moment was scream in her mind for help, help that wouldn't immediately be forthcoming.

"_Ron!_"

-

A/N: Complications, a major cliffhanger and the plot threads start to gather closer to finally be woven into our big finale. Just a quick recap: The cursed Monkey Fist is driving onward towards Ron. Shego is a living bomb capable of destroying the solar system. Kim is quickly going off kilter. Seems like a lot of stuff going down at one time, doesn't it?

Don't worry everything will come together in the end, which I have to admit is still a fair bit off – but probably not as far as some people would think. I guess I'm sort of sorry about that as much as I am relieved to finally be reaching the end of this long tale. I'm a firm believer of "going out on top" so I can promise everyone that I am working up towards a real "wow finish".

I'll probably be able to put up two more chapters and then they may slow down even more than they had already. I'm moving to Arizona in a week and once I arrive I'm going to be very busy doing a lot of moving type things. But I promise I'll try to sneak as much time working on this as humanly possible.

Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter. I had a bit of spare time on one day so I tried to go through and reply to most of them, but I can't guarantee that it'll happen again anytime soon – at least until the story is done. Still, I do promise you guys that I read everything and I appreciate it and it really helps motivate me to keep up the work on this fiction.

See ya next chapter,

QC

PS: Sorry for all the people who had to read this story without the italics for the inner dialogues. It seems the lame arsed document manager has a propensity to strip that formatting from a story for some unknown reason. I went through and added as much formatting as I could, but unfortuntely I can't remember where I put the individual stressors on certain words (I use italics for that). Hopefully when I go back through the story when I'm finished I'll be able to make this chapter look closer in format to my other ones.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – Ghost of a Chance

Ron Stoppable dodged the behemoths hairy fist and rolled away, momentarily out of danger. He looked around and noticed that Yori and Hirotaka had managed to evacuate the last of the wedding guests and student ninja's from the immediate vicinity of melee and as such he finally allowed himself to ratchet up his power levels. Master Sensei was still there, warily circling around the back of the beast, and he noticed what Ron was doing – his response was merely a nod but it carried with it an unspoken sentiment along the lines of "_Do whatever you have to_."

With the lives of his new wife and their unborn baby on the line, Ron was prepared to do just that.

The floor and the objects around Ron buckled and scattered as an unseen force threw them away from him. Ron had never before tapped into so much of the Monkey Power at one time and he shuddered as his body adjusted to the rush of pure energy that was flowing out from his center. For a moment Ron thought he saw something in the beasts eyes, but he couldn't tell what it was. It didn't look like fear, an emotion that Ron half expected to find, but something more like… hope? It bothered him, but he knew that he didn't have time to think about it right now, the beast was quickly advancing on him.

Ron ducked under another overhand strike and tumbled beneath the beasts open gait, springing up to his feet and launching himself into the air with an act of acrobatics that was too fast for the human eye to follow. His feet whipped out like lighting bolts and the sound of them impacting on the monsters back was like thunder. He knew that the force of his mystically enhanced kicks was enough to break apart a concrete wall like it was made of sand, but the strange beast barely shuddered from the impacts as Ron wheeled away to take cover from it's retaliatory strike.

"_What the hell is this thing?_"

Ron back peddled a few feet, hopefully out of the arc of the beasts swing but he had misjudged the reach of the vaguely simian monster and as such the end of its hand had caught him in the side, sending him cart-wheeling through air and slamming into the shrine wall. He quickly came back to his feet, but felt a twinge of pain in his side.

"_That cracked a rib, I don't have time to deal with this…_"

Ron let the Monkey Power flow as it wanted too, feeling it wrap around his rib, reinforcing it and accelerating the healing process. It was one of the first few applications of the Monkey Power that Ron had learned and while it was possibly the most useful, it was also the most dangerous. Every time Ron used the power this way, it left little traces of itself in his body, binding itself to his physical form. Eventually if he used it enough the power would have a grip on him he would never be able to shake. You could heal fantastic injuries this way, but in doing so you opened yourself up to becoming a creature held together more by mystical energy than blood and sinew and Ron, for the time being at least, was still interested in remaining human.

The creature charged at Ron again and he let his body move on it's own accord. Dodging, evading, moving… all these things came naturally to Ron even before he had been enhanced by the monkey spirits and because of this it came as naturally to him as walking. He let the power flow into his limbs as he scrambled and danced around the beast in choreographed chaos.

"_I need to get close to him to take him down, but one swat from that guy can probably drop me. I need something with reach… oh yeah._"

Ron wanted to hit himself. He was here, in Yamanouchi and that meant that _it_ was also here. He reached out with his mind and he could feel it calling to him, begging him to pick it up and Ron for once had to admit he didn't see anything wrong with the idea. He performed a handspring, leaping over the hulking brute and used it's own back to further propel him across the room. He held out his hand and closed his eyes as the enraged beast ran at him across the room. Almost in a flash, Ron felt the smooth grip in his hand and he spun around to brandish his weapon, causing the monster to bring itself up short.

The Lotus Blade practically glowed with silver energy and Ron noticed the effect it had on the creature. It wasn't stupid, somehow it _knew_ enough to be afraid and to be wary. It started to shuffle from side to side, trying to bait Ron into attacking.

"_Those movements… I know them._"

Ron's eyes narrowed as he stalked the beast through the ruined shrine. He tested the beasts defenses with a simple forward strike and the evasive movement the creature performed was one that Ron knew intimately. The beast was using Kung-fu, specifically the same art that Ron was a master in, Tai Shing Pek Kwar. Ron studied the monster again as he slashed the Lotus Blade forward in a wide arc and he thought that although it was huge, slightly deformed and covered with bizarre tumors, it looked vaguely like…

"_A monkey. It's a giant mutated monkey? Or…_"

Ron pivoted out of the way of a deadly tumble-kick and when he came back up he locked his gaze on the monsters eyes. They were deep and knowing and Ron decided, almost human…

"Fiske? Is that you?" asked Ron as he used his blade as a guard between him and the beast.

In response the monster slammed both of its giant fists into the ground, sending up dust and rubble. It snorted and reared back its head, howling with bestial anger. Something caught Ron's eye as the creature arched its back while it roared. He caught only a glimpse of it, but he had seen it enough in his dreams to know what it was.

"_Monty, what the hell happened to you?_"

Ron flipped out of the way of Monkey Fists's charge and wondered why the _Tempest Simia_ seemed to now be imbedded in the chest of the creature that was formerly the man Montgomery Fiske. He looked around the shrine for Master Sensei, but couldn't find the wizened Japanese man. Ron wondered where he had gone and why, it wasn't like the martial arts master to leave when his school was under attack. In fact, Ron started to wonder why none of the other students, even Yori and Hirotaka hadn't come to his aide by now.

"_Are they in danger?_" he asked himself as he launched into an intricate weapon kata designed to confuse and drive the beast back across the room.

Ron almost dropped the Lotus Blade half way through his routine when he heard the voice in his mind.

"_I am here Stoppable-san,_" came the disembodied voice of Master Sensei.

Ron was a little late in catching himself, so he took a glancing blow from Fiske that sent him flying backwards into the air.

"_Sensei! Where is everyone? Are they ok?_" Ron screamed into his mind as he twisted his body so he would land in a way that wouldn't injure himself.

"_We are fine, Stoppable-san. At least for now. We cannot enter the shrine, to do so would incur the monkey demons wrath. It would be instant death for any of us._"

Ron cursed under his breath as he fed his body more Monkey Power to wash away the pain in his legs from where Fiske had struck him. He leaped forward with his blade in front of him and was only slightly disappointed when the creature that was once Fiske rolled out of the way.

"_What do you mean Sensei?_" asked Ron.

The monkey creature was swinging it's massive fists at Ron, driving him backwards across the room as he struggled to avoid the killing blows. He was trying to keep his concentration up, but it was difficult when he was holding a conversation in his head.

"_This is a test for you Stoppable-san. We cannot interfere, if we do so then either us or you would be instantly killed,_" replied Master Sensei.

Ron's eyes narrowed when he heard the word 'test'. His long association with a certain Mr. Steve Barkin had turned that word into a four-letter curse.

"_Care to explain?_" asked Ron in his mind.

"_This is your destiny Stoppable-san. If you fail here, we will all be destroyed. If you succeed then we still may be destroyed, but at least we will have a chance, albeit a small one to avoid the end of this world,_" Sensei's voice was sad in Ron's mind and in a way it disturbed Ron more than anything. He wasn't used to the ancient master voicing that emotion – ever.

Ron's teeth gritted in pain as one of Fiske's blows that had missed him drove a spray of jagged tiles into his face. He ruefully admitted that if he didn't find a way to stop the monster then this battle would slowly turn into one of attrition and Ron wasn't sure he could win in such an endurance contest.

"_Any hints Sensei?_" Ron asked half jokingly in his mind.

"_Only this – Only the Monkey Master can be victorious. You must both forget and remember Stoppable-san, it is the only way,_" replied Sensei.

Ron tried to ask another question, but for some reason the voice of Sensei wouldn't respond. He knew in some sort of way that Sensei had probably told him everything that he needed to know and that the rest was most likely up to him, but still he wanted any sort of information he could get that would allow him to be victorious. If not for his own sake, then for the sake of his friends and the people that he loved. The immediate danger that the monster that was once Fiske posed to the school was great, for sure, but there was a chance that Shego and his baby could escape from this – especially if they were with Master Sensei and Yori.

However it was the other part of the ancient prophesies that disturbed him. There was another, greater danger, than the one that was in front of him and supposedly he was the only one that could stop it. If anyone other than Master Sensei had said such a thing to him he would have laughed. Ron had long ago given up on the saving the world business.

"_I must forget and remember. What the hell does that mean?_"

Ron whipped the Lotus Blade out in front of him, finally drawing blood from the monster that he was battling. The wound was shallow and much to Ron's dismay it closed nearly as fast as it opened.

"_I hope that cost him something, or else this is hopeless. Head in the game Ron! Think!_"

Ron ducked under another devastating attack and then brought his blade up to strike, but he was too slow for the mystically enhanced Monkey Fist. The Lotus Blade was a powerful weapon, but that power was limited in some degree by the one that held it and as much as it pained Ron to admit, he was far from an expert swordsman. Swords and Tai Shing Pek Kwar just didn't get along…

"_Right… Wait! This is a test for the Monkey Master, isn't it?_"

Ron closed his eyes and searched through his memory. He had to remember something, something deep inside himself that he had forgotten. He wondered if the power that the Monkey King had given him would help him scour his memories for the answer. Suddenly the answer came to him like a bolt of lightning.

"_Sōn Wukong!_"

The image of the Monkey King swam before Ron's eyes as his body moved on it's own accord, dodging and avoiding Fiske's assault. Sōn Wukong, with his golden fur, his red clothes, his mischievous face and his red staff stood there in his mind mocking him – challenging his disciple to come up with the answer.

Ron held the Lotus Blade out in front of him and concentrated for a moment. The sword was magical of course; everyone in Yamanouchi knew this was true. Its magic however was something of a mystery, something only known to a select few like Master Sensei, Yori, Hirotaka and Ron. In the hands of the Chosen One the Lotus Blade was a deadly weapon for justice, but it hadn't always been a sword…

Ron could feel the warm glow from the Lotus Blade envelop his hand and in a flash of light it reformed itself into what it's master desired. The weight was familiar to Ron, even though he hadn't used the weapon all that often. The knowledge however, was there, in his head. It had come to his body along with the knowledge of Tai Shing Pek Kwar when he had been struck by the energy from the jade idols. It was a deep and intimate part of his mind that he had only needed to set free to use – to be a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar was also to be a master of the staff, the favored weapon of the Monkey King.

He swung the newly formed staff version of the Lotus Blade out in front of him, bending it hand over hand in a dizzying windmill pattern. The sound that it made while cutting through the air was a soft thrum that Ron could feel vibrate against his skin and all of a sudden he knew what he had to do.

"_I need to use this, don't I? I have to accept the power, I have to let it guide my hands. I have to forget everything that I've learned here at Yamanouchi and I have to remember everything that is already inside myself. The part of myself that I've kept locked away out of fear._"

A part of Ron was still afraid of the Power, but he was driven by desperation. If there was a chance, no matter how slim, that giving himself over to it would allow his friends and loved ones to live… Then it was worth it to him, even if he lost himself in the process. He reached down deep into his soul and found the power nestled inside him. He cradled it gently, like one might hold a child and then he began to peel it open like the bud of a flower, letting it seep into his very essence.

The rush was phenomenal and his body quaked as the Monkey Power integrated itself with every cell in his body. The sensation was both erotic and frightening, as if he was being caressed by a lover for the first time. As the strength flowed into his limbs he launched a new attack at Fiske and was surprised as the force of his blows actually began to drive the beast backwards. Ron's arms guided the Lotus Staff like it was an extension of his own body and try as he might, Fiske could not avoid the strikes that mercilessly rained down on him. As the battle progressed and the adrenaline started to pump through his veins, Ron finally was able to make out the call in his mind that he had been suppressing for so many long years. The wail and howl of the Monkey Power rang out in his ears.

Ron struggled for a moment with the power and they both pushed each other back and forth in his soul. He would accept it, but he would do so on his own terms and he made it clear to the energy that was inside him. There was primal rage, but Ron tempered it with mercy. There was untold, animal strength, but Ron chained it with compassion. Back and forth the battle raged in his soul until he suddenly realized that he had done what he had thought previously impossible.

He had struck the balance between man and animal, he had tempered the beast inside him with his own humanity.

Ron stalked around the now teetering Fiske and he let loose a low snarl. For the first time in his life Ron Stoppable didn't just _know_ he was dangerous, he _felt_ it. Felt it in every inch of his body and in every ounce of muscle. The screeching chorus of the monkeys sang their song in his head to a primitive beat, but their anger and power was focused by Ron's human mind. He had a job to do and he was going to do it. The simian spirits acknowledge this and their cacophony settled down to a dull roar that while quieter lacked nothing in intensity.

"_That was all we wanted,_" Ron heard their voices softly utter in his head.

Ron somersaulted away from Fiske and grabbed onto a support beam that hung from the ceiling of the shrine. He flipped himself up and over it like a real monkey and then scratched at his chest – it itched like crazy. He looked down at his black wedding kimono and noticed that it hung loosely open and he shrugged it the rest of the way off, exposing his bare top. He ran his fingers across his chest and felt the soft downy golden fur that had sprouted across his body, covering the crisscrossing pattern of scars that he bore. His mouth felt strange and he ran his tongue over his teeth, noticing the sharp point of the incisors that had sprouted from his teeth. He was a little surprised, but the voices inside him told him not to worry and everything was ok. There was nothing to fear, this was just _his_ form – his final and most powerful form.

The form of the Ultimate Monkey Master.

There was a slight discomfort when Ron's tail burst forth from his body and he hated the way that it was constricted in even his loose robes. He would have to do something about that later, when he learned to control the transformation, but for now he just reached behind himself and pulled his tail free from the back of his garment. His sash was tied loosely around his waist and to anyone that would have looked at him he would have appeared as some sort of strange man-ape wearing only a pair of extremely baggy pants.

Ron flipped away from his perch and tumbled to the ground in a dizzying display of acrobatics. His staff swung out low at Fiske and swept the creature from its feet. The sound the behemoth made when he crashed into the ground was startlingly loud, like a giant stone statue plummeting to the ground, but it didn't distract Ron as he brought himself up to rain another devastating blow with the Lotus Staff on the back of the creature's neck.

He grinned to himself as Fiske struggled to rise from the ground. Not because of the pain his enemy was in, but because for the sublime irony that a boy who had been afraid of monkeys would end up becoming one himself, and not just any monkey either – He was _the_ monkey, the living avatar of _Sōn Wukong_. Ron Stoppable was the Monkey King.

And it was _good_ to be the King.

Fiske tried to catch Ron unaware by playing possum, but Ron's magically enhanced reflexes had moved him out of the way before his conscious brain had even calculated that he was in danger. His staff flashed out at the behemoth while he rose from the ground and Fiske warded it off with his timber like arms. Ron knew the blows were powerful enough to blast apart buildings, yet they seemed to have little effect on the monstrosity he was fighting. Fiske's hands flew down at Ron in a double overhand strike and instead of dodging, Ron brought the Lotus Staff up to block. He knew that the magical weapon wouldn't break under the onslaught and now that he was also in full Monkey Master mode, his strength was greater than a dozen silverback gorillas. The one thing that Ron hadn't counted on however was that the floor of the shrine wasn't similarly imbued and much to his dismay he found himself shin deep in the pulverized masonry.

"_Ok, so this Monkey Master thing is trickier than I thought._"

Ron brought the butt of his staff down on the ground and then climbed up on it hand over hand, spinning his legs out when he reached the top and using them to not only kick Fiske but to fly backwards across the room like some strange martial-arts pole-vaulter. He didn't even realize it when his tail had instinctively wrapped around a hanging support beam, giving him the opportunity to spin around and perch his feet for a moment. He had a look of amusement on his face as he swished his tail back and forth.

"_Who knew being a monkey would be so cool? Hmm… I wonder what Bella would think about this little guy…HEAD IN THE GAME RON!_"

It was becoming increasingly obvious to Ron that pure physical strength wasn't going to bring down Fiske's monstrous form any time soon and while the Mystical Monkey Power granted him endurance far surpassing any normal man, he wasn't willing to test the limits of his newfound abilities in such a desperate situation. He needed a plan, a quick thinking plan that would allow him to defeat the creature. Thankfully he wasn't quite as obtuse now as he had been as a young man, but still he was pretty sure he was the last person anyone with a sane mind would rely upon for brilliant insight in such a life and death situation.

Ron dodged a large piece of stone and winced a little as parts of it exploded into jagged fragments that he couldn't completely avoid. Fiske was getting antsy. The large creature wasn't willing to try and battle Ron in the rafters where it's larger size and bulk would be a disadvantage, but it wasn't willing to let him rest easy either. Another and much to Ron's dismay, larger, piece of masonry was already enroute to his location when he decided that he needed to leave the relative safety of the ceiling. He somersaulted to the ground while the stonework exploded behind him, taking out the beam he had been standing on and part of the roof as well.

He crouched low and braced himself for the mad charge he knew was coming. When Fiske was within a few feet of him, Ron brought his staff to bear like it was a spear and then smiled in satisfaction as Fiske impaled his massive chest on the blunt end of the weapon. The monsters eyes went wide and he grabbed onto the staff, trying to tear it from Ron's grip but he held firm and fought back with his simian enhanced strength. The two mystical beings were locked in this tug of war for a long minute until Fiske finally started to work his body back off the end of the staff. What Ron saw next seriously bothered him – the wound that he had inflicted on Fiske seemed to actually _heal_ just moments after he had removed himself from the end of the staff.

"_This is a serious problem. Why can't I kill this bastard?_"

Ron's eyes drifted across Fiske again as they exchanged blows on the shattered floor of the Shinto shrine. Every time he observed the monster that Fiske had become his eyes were inexplicably drawn to the idol imbedded in his chest. Ron knew on some instinctive level that the _Tempest Simia_ had to be responsible in some way for what happened to the man, even if he didn't know how. A thought sprung to Ron's mind and he acted on it. He pivoted quickly on his feet, bringing the Lotus Staff around in a wide arc and then changing it's path at the last second to strike at the ancient artifact in Fiske's chest.

Fiske blocked it.

"_Hmm… interesting._"

Ron made several feints at the idol, pretending to go directly for it and each time he did so Fiske's arms rose up in a defensive posture. The creature was in fact willing to sacrifice brutal blows to it's body in order to protect the artifact that protruded from its chest and for the first time in the entire battle Ron finally had the monstrous Monkey Fiske on the defensive.

This would have been great news for Ron, except for the fact that Fiske seemed to be completely unaffected by every strike that he landed while he noticed that his own endurance was slowly ebbing away. If the battle continued like this then eventually Fiske would be able to regain the offensive and Ron would be at a loss to protect himself.

"_I'm not getting it… I'm not getting it at all…_"

Ron knew that he was still missing a part of the puzzle, still failing at a portion of the test that was before him, but it wasn't obvious to him what piece he had failed to grasp. He swung his staff outward at Fiske with so much force the simian-monster was flung backwards dozens of feet and _through_ the shrine wall.

"_Monkey's are strong._"

Fiske tried to get up and clear the debris, but Ron moved like lightning and was already on top of him.

"_Monkey's are fast._"

The two masters danced amongst the ruins of the shrine locked in mortal combat. A faint glimmer of an idea began to form in Ron's mind.

"_Monkey's are tricky._"

Ron smiled to himself. It was so obvious, how could he forget? _Sōn Wukong _was the master trickster and now as his incarnation, so was Ron. Trickery and cunning were the two basics of Monkey Kung-Fu – monkey's used not only their ferocity to defeat their enemies but deception as well and that fact was tightly interwoven into every move of Tai Shing Pek Kwar.

Ron launched out a seemingly wild blow with his staff that Fiske easily avoided. The blow was so off balance that it obviously left Ron open for a counter attack and the creature took it. As the huge meaty fist was flying towards Ron's head, he dropped the Lotus Staff from his hands on purpose and let his body go limp to absorb the blow. Even though Ron knew it was coming and he was prepared, it still hurt like hell as he was flung backwards into the broken wall of the shrine. Dust and debris flew everywhere and Ron made a dramatic act of being stunned and disoriented from the blow.

Fiske fell for the bait and sprang through the air at Ron, obviously attempting to smash him with his fists and feet. It was a deadly mistake because once in the air Fiske had no way to change his trajectory and no way to avoid what Ron was planning next.

Without sparing a moment to think, Ron raised his hand and summoned the Lotus Staff back to him. The magical weapon flew through the air at a supernaturally fast speed in a straight line for Ron, intersecting with Monkey Fist in mid air. The blow from the staff hit the back of his legs, changing his airborne position from a forward assault to a less favorable one that caused him to land prone on his back in the rubble. Ron immediately punched at Fiske's head, knowing full well that the monster would move to the side, which he did, leaving Ron's fist to pulverize the large piece of masonry that had been behind him. Ron was prepared for this of course, so he wasn't fazed by the spray of stone chips and plaster that flew up like the shrapnel of a grenade, temporarily blinding both combatants.

During all of this Ron had shaped his other hand into a vague semblance of a claw, reminiscent of the Wooden Monkey style of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, and from memory he lunged at where he thought Fiske would be. There was a stiff resistance in his fingers as they plunged forward in to rock hard sinew and muscle and for a moment Ron wondered if his gambit would work, but then he felt the monsters skin give way to his claw attack and a split second later he felt the throbbing smoothness of the _Tempest Simia_ on his palm.

In that split second both ape-man and ape-monster opened their eyes and stared into each other's souls. Ron had been expecting Fiske to resist, to pummel him with his massive limbs and strength, so he was surprised when the only action the villain took was to shake vigorously on the ground. Ron looked at the abomination before him intently as he struggled to remove the idol from its chest. He thought he saw something in Fiske's eyes, something akin to sorrow and he almost stopped his movements to ponder the thoughts that were running through the now monstrous Fiske's head.

Ron moved his knee up to Fiske's chest and then used his position to give himself enough leverage to put all of his strength into removing the idol. Fiske's arms flailed madly and his fingers clutched and opened in spasms. There was an audible "popping" sound in the air as Ron pulled back with all his might and realized that he was holding onto his prize.

The removal of the idol from Fiske released a torrent of mystical energy that enveloped and buffeted Ron, nearly tossing him backwards from the now dying creature's body. Yes, Fiske was dying… that much was obvious. His life blood was leaking from the gaping wound that Ron had tore in his chest and this time it wasn't closing over like all the previous wounds Ron had inflicted on him. His blood was black, not red, and Ron could practically smell the corruption oozing from his mutated body. As the river of ichor began to pool on the ground Ron would have sworn that he saw the monsters body start to lose mass, almost as if in death Fiske was returning back to the half-man that he used to be.

It was on shaking feet that Ron stood, watching the life ebb away from his oldest and deadliest nemesis. There was no feeling of satisfaction, no feeling of elation at victory, but instead just an empty hole inside him that he wanted to fill with something else. It didn't take him long to realize what it was, he needed _her_ – Ron might have been the warrior protector of the world, but that world wasn't worth protecting unless he had her by his side. It was a narcissistic and selfish thought, but Ron allowed himself to have it. She was just too precious to place behind anything, including saving the world.

Ron had an idle thought, "_I wonder where she is…_"

Then, almost maliciously, the _Tempest Simia_ decided to show him.

-

Kim Possible broke the communication link with Wade and then sat alone in the small semi-private compartment of the Chinese cargo plane. Her conversation had gone about as well as she had expected, but still it left her feeling unsatisfied and directionless. Sure she had completed the mission, captured the villain and was on her way to pick up the first financial reward of her crime-fighting career, but she didn't like the way she was feeling. She reached into her olive drab bag and removed a small flask of liquid comfort and popped the lid to take a swig.

"_I'll feel a lot better when I have that five million dollars from the Saudi's. I can pay back my parents, I can pay off my student loans, I can buy a house, and I wont have to worry about going back to my crappy campus job. I don't even have to work for Betty if I don't want to. I can work for myself, make my own way, and do what I want to for a change._"

Kim took another drink and sputtered as the alcohol burned her throat. She needed the feeling, or more accurately the lack of feelings, that the alcohol provided her with, but she hated the process of getting drunk. The stuff she was drinking now wasn't as smooth or pleasant as the wine she had started off with, but it was a lot harder so Kim took a small amount of satisfaction in knowing that at least she wouldn't have long to wait before she was comfortably numb.

"_Yep, that's what I'll do – medicate all thoughts of Ron Stoppable out of my brain. It's a long flight from here to Saudi Arabia and if I time it right I'll just be sleeping off the last of this by the time we arrive._"

Kim knew it was a pretty pathetic thought, but it was the best she could come up with in this kind of situation. She was wrestling with demons of her own creation and she was losing the battle and to top it all off there was a person just a few feet away behind a thin corrugated steel wall that could give her some of the answers she needed – if only she had enough guts to get them. She pondered for a moment as she took another drink if the reason why she was here, drinking herself silly and not questioning Shego was because she didn't want to actually _know_ those answers, or if because she didn't want to have to use the threats she knew she'd have to in order to get them.

She looked at her Kimmunicator and used her thumb to bring up the program that Wade had given her. Asides from being able to lock Shego down in a state of nervous paralysis, it also let whoever was using it inflict extreme amount of pain to the person that was wearing the device around their neck. Kim wondered why a villainess like Shego would allow herself to wear such a thing when as far as she knew there was absolutely no way for her to counter the more nefarious uses of the collar. Had she done it willingly? Had she been duped? Did she even know what the device could do to her?

Kim had a lot of questions and no answers and she positively _hated_ it. Under normal circumstances Kim might have just stewed about it until she had the chance to sate her curiosity, or she might have taken her risks with a direct confrontation with Shego – after all it wasn't like the green hued woman was going any where at 30,000 feet over the ground. However the alcohol was starting to get to her and she felt the inhibitions she had slipping away like water off a duck's back. She took one final long gulp from her flask and then placed it back in her mission bag. She turned around and screwed her face into some semblance of a furious scowl and then walked to the small compartment where her hosts were keeping Shego captive.

There was a man with some sort of SMG standing guard over the immobilized woman, a precaution that Kim didn't particularly care for. Wade had guaranteed her that Shego would be rendered helpless by the device that she wore and Kim trusted Wade in matters like this – the young genius was seldom wrong. Also the device that Shego was strapped too was the kind of stiff board with restraints that they use for people who have suffered injuries to their necks or spines and with her pregnant belly thrusting unceremoniously in the air, Kim felt somehow that it was _wrong_ for this man to see her in such a state. It wasn't that Kim cared about Shego's dignity so much as her current position was an insult to all women and particularly motherhood.

"_It's cold up here, even with the pressurized cabin… they could have at least put a blanket on her._"

It was a strange thought for Kim to have considering her enmity with Shego and the state of mind she was in, but there was still a tiny part of Kim Possible that really did just want to help people and it was hard for her to shake the grip it had on her personality. Kim took her anger and focused it on the guard in the compartment, locking him with a look that made it abundantly clear that she wanted him to leave. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, he had probably been given orders not to leave the prisoner alone, but after a few seconds he thought better of it and left the brooding Kim alone with Shego.

"I know you can hear me," said Kim as she turned her gaze to Shego.

Kim stepped back up against the wall, putting as much distance between Shego and her as possible inside the cramped plane. She then held up her Kimmunicator and showed it to the bound woman.

"The reason why you can't move is because of this," she waved the device back and forth.

"If I touch this panel here… you freeze like that. If I press this one, you can move. If I press this one… well lets just say you'll look like a live frog at one of Mr. Barkin's biology labs," Kim let a wicked grin form on her lips as she said these last few words just to let the fact sink in that she _would_ go that far if she had to.

Kim sat back and hesitated. She wanted answers, but she knew that she could probably get them just as easily from Ron, if not easier, than from Shego. She knew what she was doing was dangerous and she wondered if she could really carry through on her threat knowing that the other woman was pregnant. Maybe it was the alcohol speaking, or maybe Kim was really just that emotionally messed up, but whatever the reason she pressed the button and decided to let the chips fall where they may.

"What were you doing in Japan?" Kim asked in a firm tone.

Shego blinked her eyes and tries t move her mouth, like she was testing to see if her muscles were functioning again.

"I said… What the _fuck_ were you doing in Japan?" Kim stated with an angry snarl, her finger hovering over the Kimmunicator.

An unintelligible sound came from Shego's mouth as she moved her dry lips. Kim just snarled at her, "Don't croak at me Kermit and answer the question!"

Shego swallowed her own saliva and then tried to talk again.

"…wat-er…" came her raspy voice.

Kim bore into Shego with a hard look. It was probably a trick, at least that's what she was suspecting. Shego was a villain and she would do or say anything she could in order to avoid capture or carry out her plans. Kim truthfully _did_ see things this way and given her past experiences with the woman she had a right to – however a small part of her didn't like the idea of torturing a pregnant woman, even if that woman _was_ Shego. She looked around and noticed that the guard had left behind a half filled bottle of water and then she pondered what she would do.

"_I'll hold the Kimmunicator away, if she so much as blinks at me wrong I'll make her scream her guts out._"

Kim grabbed the bottled water from the long bench and then spoke slowly in a clear voice.

"I swear if you even flex a muscle I'll press this button and give you a third trimester abortion. You got that?" she asked.

Shego weakly tried to nod her head, not ware of the restraints and then said, "…please…"

Kim twisted the cap off the bottle and then approached Shego from her far side, holding her Kimmunicator out of reach and with her finger precariously thrust over the control that would send Shego into a painful seizure. Shego's head was immobilized by the board she was strapped to so she couldn't tilt it back to drink, instead Kim thrust the bottle between her lips and tipped it like she was putting oil into a car. Shego's cheeks ballooned outwards and a great deal of water made its way to her chest before she finally swallowed, and then she gulped and guzzled as best as she could given the uncomfortable circumstances. The bottle finally empted and Kim side stepped back to her seat across the compartment.

"Can you talk English now instead of frog?" asked Kim as she sat down.

Shego rolled the last bit of water around in her mouth and then ran her tongue over her dry lips. She swallowed a little bit and then tried to talk.

"Please Kim… this hurts a lot," she finally said in a tired voice.

"No! Water is one thing, but you're staying there and that's it. Now answer the question, what were you doing in Japan?" Kim replied.

"Hiding," said Shego.

"From who?" asked Kim.

"From you," replied Shego.

"You didn't do a good job, it was all over the news where you were," snarked Kim.

Shego sighed, "That wasn't my idea…"

"Who's was it then?" Kim asked.

Shego hesitated for a moment. She knew, or at least suspected, from her conversations with Ron that Kim had a decidedly dysfunctional attachment to her new-husband. She wondered if mentioning his name would endear her to Kim or make her near homicidal instead.

"Ron…" she offered.

Kim scoffed at this for some reason, a reaction that surprised Shego. Then she followed up with the inevitable question of, "Why? Why did Ron do that?"

Shego wanted to groan but she held it in. This was a bad situation, she had to answer Kim's questions or the device she held would probably injure her and most definitely kill her unborn child – if she was telling the truth that she intended to use it. Shego contemplated this point for a moment, weighing the different likely scenarios. However the scent of alcohol on Kim when she had given her the water helped her make up her mind. She'd do her best to be truthful, but leaving out as much information as possible.

"It should be obvious… the baby," she finally replied.

Kim rolled her eyes at this. It was the answer that she had been expecting. Ron Stoppable was a gentle, sweet and caring guy – Kim knew this intimately, so it wasn't a big surprise that he would go to such lengths for a pregnant woman. The question remained however, _why Shego_. She was an enemy, and if that didn't amount for much, she had tried to kill Ron on several occasions and that at least should matter. Still, Ron was a sweetheart and if he thought that perhaps Shego wanted to turn over a new leaf with her baby… would he go this far?

Kim sighed internally, he probably would.

Kim had another question; one that she already knew the answer to, but she wanted to ask it anyway so that she could gauge just how truthful Shego was being to her.

"What was it you stole from Global Justice?" she asked, omitting the fact that it had actually been _Ron_ that had taken it. That little part of the encounter hadn't made it into her official report to Betty Director.

"A microchip," replied Shego.

"Why? Was it for Drakken? Does he have some sort of plan for it?" Kim pushed.

"No… well yes, it's in this damn collar," said Shego with some bitterness in her voice.

Kim knew this also; Wade somehow possessed full schematics of the device. It seemed that at least for now Shego was acting on the level with Kim.

"Why are you wearing that thing? Not that I'm complaining… it made my job easy," said Kim with a smirk while she waved the Kimmunicator back and forth.

"I can't control my powers any more, the collar keeps them manageable," replied Shego. It was mostly true, she had just omitted the part about the initial fear of the complications from to her pregnancy from the cosmic radiation.

Kim had suspected this, but she had also wondered why Shego had allowed such a functionality to be built into the collar. Most likely she hadn't known… or the benefits outweighed the potential threat. Maybe she had made a gamble… and lost. Kim decided to ask.

"Did you know how dangerous it was? Did Drakken trick you?" Kim asked.

Shego closed her eyes and then spoke, "I didn't have any choice…"

Her voice hung in the air for a moment and then she added, "… the energy could be dangerous to the baby."

Shego knew from the tests that had been performed on her in Japan that it was unlikely that her own cosmic powers were harming her unborn offspring, if that was the case then it wouldn't still be alive inside her womb – but originally that had been why she had consented and she wondered if saying so wouldn't net her some sympathy from Kim.

Kim just smirked at Shego and then ventured a guess of her own that she had long been wondering about.

"Maybe Drakken wanted to keep a leash on you while you were walking around with his brat?" Kim prodded.

Shego snorted, "Get real… he's old enough to be my father."

Shego was a little surprised at what she said. While Ron wasn't technically _that_ much older than her, ten years wasn't an insignificant amount of time. She just had never thought of him that way.

"So, who was it? One of the henchmen? Getting frisky with the synthodrones?" Kim mocked Shego.

"You're the only one that makes moves on goo-men, Princess…" snarled Shego. She knew it was a mistake as soon as the words were out of her mouth, but the banter between them had made it easy to forget her situation and sometimes old habits _do_ die hard.

Kim's eyes went wide and her hands visibly shook with rage at the barb from Shego. She recalled vividly how the other woman had set her up when she was emotionally vulnerable and how much delight she seemed to derive from emotionally taunting her. This anger combined with the alcohol in Kim's system was a lethal cocktail that was quickly making her lose control.

"Shut the hell up you bitch!" she shouted at Shego as she crossed the small distance between them.

In her rage, Kim had forgotten about the device in her hand and what it could do to the villainess and she instead fell back on her more primal urges. She cocked her fist back and aimed it at Shego's immobilized head. The sound of her knuckles impacting on the other woman's face filled her ears just as the throbbing sensation of the punch registered through her hand. Shego wanted to scream and to fight back, but the fact that Kim held probably not only her life, but the life of her unborn child in her hands caused her to refrain from further provoking the fiery red head. It was a mistake.

The punch from Kim didn't do much to release the rage that was built up inside her and the fact that Shego hadn't uttered a sound or even given her the satisfaction of a scream only incensed her further. She swung out again, this time with a wild haymaker that connected with the side of Shego's head with such force that Kim felt the blow reverberate up her arm. Another punch followed the first one, this time to Shego's mouth and it was only the fact that Kim cut her fist on the other woman's teeth that she realized that Shego had been knocked unconscious. Kim didn't know which one of her blows had knocked the woman out, or even how many punches she had tossed, but she was seemingly blithe about the whole situation.

"_Serves her right…_"

There was a slight feeling of nausea that settled deep within Kim's stomach as she backed away from the battered woman. Shego's eye was already puffing up and a steady trail of blood was flowing down her neck and pooling in between her breasts from the double split lip Kim had given her. Kim had never attacked someone so brutally before in her life, and especially not someone who had seemed to be so helpless. A thin trickle of blood continued to fall down Shego's chest and Kim watched in horror as it crossed the skin of her rotund belly. Her hands were shaking now, but she couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol, the adrenaline or her own revulsion.

Kim took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. When that failed she decided that she needed a little help and so she made her way back to the small private compartment where her equipment was and a little bottle that she thought would take away all her problems, at least temporarily.

She didn't even realize that she had forgotten to turn the device on Shego's neck back on.

-

Yamato Tenma, better known to his students as Master Sensei, looked at the carnage and destruction that had once been a four hundred year old Shinto shrine. In the immortal man's frame of reference, this made it a relatively new addition to the thousand year old Yamanouchi school, but still it was painful to loose.

"_It was just starting to get some character too…_"

He looked at the lifeless body that had once been Montgomery Fiske and he was surprised at the depth of sadness he felt for the man. His fate had not been kind to him, but he had at the end at least served his purpose. It was the wish of the ancient martial artist that his service to the spirits would set him upon the path of a better destiny in his next life.

Master Sensei heard the familiar footsteps of his favorite student and adoptive daughter coming up behind him. Without breaking his glance or turning his back he spoke to her in a concerned voice.

"How are the students and guests Yori-chan?"

Yori was used to her adoptive fathers peculiar behavior so she wasn't surprised that he had heard her approach, even though she was using the best techniques she knew. It was a little game that they had started when she was barely old enough to walk and she hadn't won once.

"There were some slight injuries, only Tsukomoto-kun was killed. He was standing watch at the North wall," Yori tried to state her report in a professional voice, a voice that she assumed someone in her line of work would use, but it was hard. Kenji-kun had been a good friend of hers, the two of them having grown up together at the school. At least the fact that he was also an orphan wouldn't make it complicated to explain away his death – but Yori herself would never forget him.

Master Sensei grunted noncommittally at the news and Yori sighed a little bit. She knew more than anyone how much the old master cared for his young charges, but she also knew that he was of a different generation and showing such emotions didn't come easy to him. She only hoped that he wouldn't blame himself for the death.

Yori paused for a moment, hesitating to voice her question, but then began "Sensei have you…"

"They are not here. I do not know where. Stoppable-san disappeared as soon as he defeated this… _thing_," spoke Sensei in a clear voice.

For the first time Yori paused to take a good look at the monster that had attacked the school. It limply laid on the floor, as if all its bones had been removed so that it resembled nothing more than a gnarled pile of sinew, fur and muscle. The smell was horrendous, but not like an animal… and that fact disturbed Yori more than anything she saw.

Master Sensei caught the momentary look of confusion on Yori's face and he nodded at her with a soft grunt.

"Your senses are correct," he stated simply as he rose from his kneeling position on the ground.

Yori's eyes went wide and she stared intently at the gruesome mess on the shrine floor. It had at one time been a creature filled with life and energy, but it hung on to that life through death… Yori could feel the chill of the grave on the beast as it barreled past her on its way to battle Ron and she couldn't recall ever feeling so afraid before in her life and Ron had fought with it… and defeated it! For some reason Yori felt a small flush of pride at this fact – she had an almost fanatical faith in Ron Stoppable and it showed itself in the strangest of ways.

"Yori-chan…" began Master Sensei, "the danger has likely passed, but have Hirotaka and the senior students start patrolling Mt. Yamanouchi."

"But Sensei… shouldn't we be helping Ron-kun? And what about She-chan and the baby? We could send ninja's out after them…" Yori stalled for a moment when she caught the pained look on Master Sensei's face.

"I'm sorry Yori-chan, but this is not something that we can help Stoppable-san with. At least not any more than we already have. Rest assured however, that we have done our best and he carries with him all the gifts that were given to him."

The look in Master Sensei's eyes was far away, as if he was looking deeply into the past and remembering something with fondness.

"Gifts Sensei? You mean the Lotus Blade?" inquired Yori.

"The Blade is the least of the gifts he bears," stated Sensei with a small smile on his face.

Yori only looked puzzled at this. The Lotus Blade was the treasure of the thousand year old martial arts school and the fact that Sensei would dismiss it so easily wasn't something that she could understand.

Sensei patted Yori on the shoulder and gave her a smile only for her.

"There are other gifts that people give to each other. Gifts like honor, duty, loyalty, compassion, friendship, patience, faith and love. They shape who we are, anchor us to our lives and guide us to our destiny," Sensei spoke with a soft voice.

Yori blushed a little bit at these words, although Sensei had not attributed the sentiments directly, she knew that in many ways he was alluding to her own feelings for Ron. It had been hard for her to come to grips with having to give up on a romantic relationship with the man she had for so long loved, but she was bolstered in knowing that even if their fates were not so closely bound, everything she had done and felt had come from her heart and it had been returned just as earnestly. Yori knew that her and Ron would never be lovers, but she also knew that no matter what, they would always be friends.

"Yori-chan, go and let Hirotaka know my orders and then come to my quarters. I think it is time to begin your training," said Sensei with a light tone in his voice.

"Training?" Yori asked.

Master Sensei squeezed Yori's shoulder once and smiled at her broadly.

"Stoppable-san is not the only one being tested by fate daughter. You still have some ways to go, but some day you too will have to achieve your own destiny. Remember well the lessons you have learned, you will need them in order to teach others the truth that lays in the heart of a warrior," Sensei gently said to Yori as he moved her to face the door.

Yori nodded to the old man and then left the shrine to relay his orders. On the way out she would have sworn she had heard the man utter something under his breath, she couldn't make out all the words but she thought it sounded oddly like a prayer. She made it about fifteen feet down the path hen the first tears hit her eyes.

"_That was the first time he ever called me daughter._"

Yori paused for a moment and was overcome by a desire to run back into the shrine and throw her arms around the man she had always considered her father and she fought valiantly to choke back a sob. Her mind started to replay the exchange between them in her thoughts as she walked down the path with shaking feet. She had been so overcome with the rare expression of emotion from the inscrutable old man that she had somehow managed to lose the meaning of what he had been trying to tell her in his own cryptic way.

Yori Mutasamaru had been chosen to be the next head of the Yamanouchi clan.

That was the thing that clinched it and Yori was as swift as the wind as she ran back up the aged steps to the now ruined shrine to participate in a scene that severely embarrassed both the student and the teacher, but finally allowed them a small emotional release to let them show just how much they cared about each other.

-

A/N: Chapter 19 is go! I'm glad I actually managed to finish this before I flew out for AZ this week, I was worried that the ideas would slip out of mind especially with the inactivity (writing-wise) that resulted from the activity (holiday-wise) around this last week. Due to the fact that I am moving the remaining chapters will probably come out a little slower than they have been – but the good (or bad I guess?) news is that the story is reaching it's conclusion fairly soon.

Chapter 18 got very few reviews when I put it up (especially compared to the last chapter which got almost three times as many), but I am hoping that it's because of the holiday last week and not because the chapter really stank! If it really was bad, please let me know so I can go over it and retool it. I've been pretty proud of the quality of the writing I've done through this entire project and I want to make sure that it continues and if I hit a rough spot… well I'd rather re-write than continue to pump out crap. Please let me know!

Oh and one other thing – Last week I threw out a complete one-shot based on the events that happened in the first chapter of this story. It deals with the affair between Josh and Kim and the fallout that results, but with a twist – it's from Josh's perspective. Also if that sounds like a hard sell – Bonnie and Tara's "relationship" figures prominently in the fiction (Hot lesbians anyone?) The story is called "Friendly Fire" and you can access it by clicking on my name at the top of my page and looking at my profile. Please leave a review if you read it!

Anyway, the next chapter should be pretty intense. The confrontation between Kim and Ron finally comes into play and a main character's life hangs by a thread – plus some Time Monkey hi-jinx. It definitely promises to be an interesting chapter.

Once again, thanks for reading and please review!

QC


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – The Wow Finish.

Betty Director tried to shake the fatigue from her head as she poured over the data readouts for the fifth time. She wasn't a super genius like the boy who had prepared the report and to be honest science was never her best subject, but a career of dealing with madmen who created devices named things like the "Sub-Atomic Magna-Departiclizer" or the "Vortexular Radteculating Matrix" had taught her enough to recognize science gone bad.

Wearily she rubbed her forehead and turned around to face the assembled group of scientists that had been summoned to deal with the crisis. The motley group in front of her might not have looked like it, but they were the best minds on Earth, each one the authoritative master of their respective disciplines and just like her they were hanging on the words of a single teen-age boy.

"None of the scenarios so far have a good chance of succeeding." Wade Load said with an air of defeat in his voice.

"Even with the additional data provided by Dr. Hong and Dr. Holbrook, every simulation I've run has ended in failure."

Betty rubbed her good eye with her palm and tried to get her thoughts together. It wasn't every day that you found out that the end of all life on your planet was imminent and there wasn't anything you could do about it. Frankly, she felt like she was handling things pretty well but she knew that it was all only a matter of perspective. She had long ago worked in the field before she had risen to control the operations of Global Justice and the specter of death had always walked with her. The only really unnerving part of the current circumstances in her opinion was the fact that the person telling her she was going to die was a teenage boy, who seemed to be more annoyed with not being able to solve a thorny problem than with the prospect of being blasted apart into his sub atomic particles.

_Well, he is a super genius. His huge brain probably doesn't work like mine. Still… it's more than a little freaky._

"Wade…" Betty finally responded, "Lets run through our options again."

Betty leaned back in her plush leather chair and brought up a mental list.

"Containment?" she asked.

"There's no known force on Earth or nearby celestially that could possibly contain an energy influx of that magnitude."

"Siphoning?" she continued.

"It's possible, but with the technology we currently have the feedback from such a task would destroy a large portion of the Earth, sending vast quantities of debris up into the air not to mention disintegrating a huge amount of atmosphere and possibly bringing on another ice age."

Betty frowned. It wasn't quite instant death for planet Earth, but it was the next worst thing.

"Oh, and it would take us a year to build." Wade added.

"What about our space option?" Betty asked.

Wade looked off in the distance like he was thinking and then tapped a few keys on his keyboard.

"It's one of our better plans, but it has a significant chance of failure. Basically it's a matter of speed. Even if we were to use our fastest engines on our most advanced spacecraft there isn't a guarantee that we'd be able to move the locus of the blast far away enough from Earth where we wouldn't be affected. "

Betty twitched her lip, "Numbers Wade, I need numbers."

"Less than 50 percent." Wade responded with a downcast tone.

Betty rubbed her chin and pondered if that number was high enough to act on. She needed more information.

"Wade, what about our…" she hesitated for a moment, "final solution."

Wade knew what Dr. Director was trying to get at. He didn't like it, but he had been thorough and knew _those_ chances just as well as he knew the others.

"Low. Very low. We don't honestly know what would happen if we tried to do that. There is a high possibility that the energy release would continue unabated."

Betty looked directly at Wade and carefully phrased her next question.

"Would failure here preclude our usage of the space option?"

Wade was visibly upset at what Dr. Director was proposing. His long running gig as Kim Possibles tech-guru had given him a sense of maturity that most young people his age didn't posses but he still had deep moral concerns about the _final option_. In his heart of hearts Wade Load still imagined himself as a hero, one of the good guys, and he didn't have the time in the current situation to grow old fast enough to gain the cynicism it would take for him to be able to go to the lengths that Dr. Director was willing to go.

"I'm not positive," he finally said. It wasn't a lie, but he was doing the best he could to try and cleverly dissuade Dr. Director from going down this road.

"What do you mean by that?" Betty asked on cue.

"It could trigger a sudden release of the energy." Wade responded.

The gears in Betty's mind started to churn. There was something here that the boy genius hadn't mentioned to her, a plan that possibly had a good chance of working, maybe even better than half odds. She struggled for a bit, grasping at threads of thought and she could have sworn that she saw Wade looking at her with apprehension.

"Wade…" she began in a slightly irritated voice. The boy genius immediately didn't like where this was going.

"What if…" she paused for a moment to pull all the threads together to one coherent plan, "What if we were to combine both the space option and the final option into one plan? What are our chances then?"

Wade visibly blanched. He had somewhat expected that Dr. Director would pick up on this possibility but he had held out hope that she wouldn't..

"Well, I hadn't really ran those…" Wade tried to lie.

"Wade!" interjected Betty, "Don't give me that – tell it to me straight, right now."

It was no use. Wade knew that he couldn't delay the inevitable. He had given Global Justice enough information that their scientists would be able to figure it out in short notice. All he had really hoped to gain was some time so that he could come up with another solution, his own solution - one that would leave everyone safe and alive.

"Alright…" he slowly began, then sighed. "Better than 70 but no guarantee. It could fail. Destruction of the host focus while moving away from Earth could trigger a blast of significantly reduced power that would not reach as far as our planet."

Betty nodded and then picked up the telephone on her desk.

"Will? I need you to mobilize our assault and capture teams. We have a big problem to solve."

There was a pregnant pause in the room as Will Du said something that only Betty Director could hear.

"Yes, that's right Will… a problem named Shego."

-

Shego was out of shape. It was something that was more or less unavoidable as her pregnancy had continued to progress. A normal woman who was extremely disciplined might be able to retain a great deal of fitness throughout her entire pregnancy, but Shego was no normal woman. She was well versed in over half a dozen forms of hand-to-hand combat and a master of gymnastics and acrobatics. Sure, she was far more fit than the average expectant mother but she also knew that attempting to do a back flip kick was not only improbable due to her new, and lower, center of gravity but down right dangerous to both her and her unborn child.

It bruised her ego to admit it, but on her best days she was barely a match for Kim Possible and now that she was with child she wouldn't even be a road bump for her arch-nemesis in a fair fight.

Of course, Shego didn't have any intentions of fighting fair – not with what was on the line.

Normally, this wouldn't be the case. If you could sum up the essence of her character in one word that word might be "Competitive". She relished testing her abilities, battling against her enemies and being victorious. If she had stopped to think about it she would have realized that this aspect of her personality was most likely due to her being a middle child – always competing with her brothers for parental attention and accolades. However as an adult this trait of hers had manifested itself in the form of a bizarre code of honor that had held true even through her criminal endeavors. There might not have been any honor amongst thieves, but just like everything in her life, Shego had on more than one occasion proven herself to be the exception.

Except for now. No, this time she wasn't going to take and chances. No foolish bravado, no bullheaded grudge fighting, nothing of that sort. She was going to hit Kim hard and fast and when she least expected it with the full force of her power. Whatever reservations Shego had about obliterating her husbands' ex-girlfriend and possibly ex-best friend had evaporated the moment Kim's fist had pummeled her face.

_Ron will have to understand. I don't know how but he'll have to understand. I'm not going to let Kim, or anyone, hurt the baby._

The cargo compartment that Shego had been incarcerated in was empty now so she risked a few subtle movements to ease the cramping in her muscles. The shiny metal device that she wore like a necklace had been a two edged sword. On one hand it had allowed her to control her powers enough that she didn't disintegrate everything within a few meters of her, but it had also unwittingly provided a way for Kim to incapacitate her. With a simple radio transmitted command the device had shut down nearly all her of her motor controls, freezing her body in a living rigor mortis. Kim had made a mistake however and had deactivated the machine to interrogate Shego and either due to her own negligence or the unmarked bottle of alcohol she had been drinking from, had failed to turn it back on. For once it seemed that luck was actually on Shego's side.

_Maybe the 'Ron Factor' is working for me for a change?_

Shego half smiled at the thought. Throughout her long 'association' with Kim Possible and her 'sidekick' Ron Stoppable, it had always seemed like the forces of the universe were arrayed against her. If a mistake could happen, it did. If a machine could explode, it did. If a banana peel could fall out of a 14th story window making her lose her balance and careen into a large stack of precariously stacked cans of paint… well you get the idea. Even though her marriage was only a few hours old, in the back of her mind Shego idly wondered if she had somehow managed to inherit a little bit of her new husbands luck. Maybe Ron was like a Buddha statue and if you rubbed him enough, you got some good luck.

_I've certainly done my fair share of that… _

It wasn't really the time or place for thoughts like that, but thinking of Ron calmed her down and made her determined. Determined to get out of this situation alive and well and back to him. She knew that their reunion wouldn't be all smiles, especially if Kim got in her way, but she felt confident that Ron would understand. He loved her, this she was absolutely sure of. The fact that she was a criminal, a villain and sometimes a down right bitch hadn't swayed him. Ron Stoppable had done the one thing that no one else alive had managed to do – he had earned Shego's trust and with it, her love.

Shego cocked her head to the side slowly, flexing the bunched up muscles in her neck and shoulders. She was sore as all hell. The hours of paralysis as well as the beating Kim had given her had taken their toll and she felt a momentary wave of doubt surge over her. What if she couldn't escape, even if she took off the inhibitor collar and used her full power? There was no way she was going to be able to break free while the cargo plane was still in transit – they were thousands of feet up in the air and Shego couldn't fly. To compound matters the collar that she wore around her neck was the only thing keeping her hyper-charged cosmic power in check. If she removed it to make sure that Kim couldn't paralyze her again then she would quickly be surrounded by a nimbus of green energy that would destroy everything within a couple meters of her… including the floor of the plane that was currently carrying her.

_If only I could figure out some way to change the frequency on this thing… _

Shego sighed and then banished the idea from her list of actionable plans. She was no technical genius and although she would never admit it, she could barely put together a bookshelf from Ikea let alone tinker with anything electronic. She sat there thinking for long moments and then let out a sigh and settled back down into her 'seat'.

_The only thing I can do is play possum right now and hope the Princess doesn't realize that she made a mistake. As soon as this bucket hits the ground I can make a break for it. Once I fry the inhibitor collar I doubt whoever Kimmie is taking me to will have any better luck of stopping me than Global Justice did…_

Shego slowly put her hand to her distended stomach and fought back a soft sob.

_I'm sorry… I don't know what this will do to you, or even if I'll be able to eat, or drink or sleep once I blast this thing off._

Shego cursed Kim under her breath and then settled down to wait. Kim had put her in a nearly impossible situation – having to choose between her own life and that of her unborn child, a child that she considered a miracle. After all, she had never expected to be able to bear children and then to have one with the man she loved…

Subconsciously her hands fired up in green plasma and she stared at the emerald flames as they danced between her fingers. She couldn't shake the feeling that just like everything else in her life, her damnable powers were taking away her future and her hopes. For a sad moment she thought herself a fool – she had dared to dream for the first time since she was a young girl and now she was paying the price.

It was a pretty little dream… while it lasted.

-

Ron had never fully been awake during time travel before – both of the times he had been tossed through the years he had been blissfully unconscious, however now that he had the Tempus Simia in his hands it seemed that the strange idol was granting him a slight level of protection from the strenuous experience. He stretched out his limbs as he plummeted through ethereal currents and pondered the sensation that was buffeting his body. Was it eddies of time? Currents of history streaming past him? What did time feel like?

_Head in the game Stoppable!_

Ron sighed and exhaled what he thought was air from his lungs. It seemed that no matter how much he experienced, or how much he thought he had matured, his basic nature – ergo, his essential Ron-ness, always popped up at the most inopportune times. Floating through time holding an ancient artifact in pursuit of your wife was more than enough for him to think about without getting side tracked by trying to figure out if time felt sticky.

_Wait… sticky?_

He blinked once and shook his head and then realized that he had come to an abrupt end of his journey. He couldn't help but be slightly disappointed – there was no cool wormhole effect, or flash of light, or explosion, or nearly anything that Ron would have expected based on his steady teenage diet of science fiction movies. Just a barely audible pop and the feeling of cold cement on his skin and what seemed to be a still moist glob of chewing gum doing it's best to adhere his hand to the pavement.

_Wasn't I standing up when I…_

Ron was about to think "used this thing", but caught himself. He hadn't in fact used anything, at least not in the sense that one would normally consider performing an action. He stared at the idol that was still clasped in his other hand and concentrated on it for a moment. At first there was nothing, just the cool gem like material rubbing against the calluses of his hand and then suddenly, albeit faintly, there was a tingle on the edge of his consciousness. He focused on that feeling, it was tiny and seemed to be slipping away from him when he caught a glimpse of it's true nature.

The pure malevolence that he sensed stunned him and the idol fell from his grasp.

Slowly Ron picked himself up off the pavement. It was dark, wherever he was and he was grateful for the concealment – the last thing he needed right now was anyone coming around and asking him questions about what he was doing here, dressed in the tatters of his wedding kimono and cowering away from a crystal monkey.

_Where is here anyway? This doesn't look like Japan… and it's dark, the moon is high it's probably around midnight or later… and the wind… it feels different._

Ron stared warily at the Tempus Simia as it lay on the ground. He had held the artifact in his hand while thinking about where Shego was and before he had time to register the fact he was already off, flying around the currents of eons. He hadn't focused very hard, nor even had much of an idea about where exactly he wanted to go.

_Hmm… or even WHEN I wanted to go._

It was the truth, and a disturbing one – The Tempus Simia wasn't a teleportation device, its domain was time travel and while it might physically move someone from point A to point B, it always did so along with a chronological shift. For all Ron knew he was months, or even years, away from the time and place where he had first held onto the artifact. It was a daunting prospect, but one that Ron was familiar with. He had spent lifetimes trapped in a seemingly unending time loop and he comforted himself by noting that so long as the Tempus Simia was in his possession at the very least he wasn't trapped.

Ron stooped over the idol and considered it for a moment and then he warily reached down and picked it up. He tried to keep his mind empty of any sort of thoughts that might set the malevolent artifact in motion. Such a task would have seemed to be impossible for the average person, but not for Ron Stoppable. At the tender age of 15 he had been convinced that the Middleton High lunch lady was secretly scanning his brain in order to devise the perfect plan of culinary terror to bring him to his knees. In response to this notion Ron had spent countless hours practicing not thinking at all and while he might be accused of easily being able to accomplish such a feat, especially by Kim, truth be told it was a lot harder than most people imagine. So, in usual Ron fashion, he took the opposite approach to the problem and instead filled his head with so much inane gibberish and random associations that no discernable patterns of thought could possibly be detected in his head.

_Once again the Ron-man proves there is no such thing as a useless skill!_

Ron tucked the idol away within his clothes and then took stock of the situation at hand.

_Alright, this is just like exploring one of Drakken's lairs. Of course asides from the fact that it's not a lair… looks more like a military compound if you ask me… and I don't see any ventilation ducts to crawl around in… and I'm pretty sure that thing across the way is a tank…_

Ron blinked a couple times as his eyes adjusted finally to the darkness and took in the scene before him. Truth be told, it did look like he was in some sort of military compound – the concrete bunker type buildings and the barbed wired fences atop reinforced walls were a dead give away. Ron shrank back into the darkness, hugging the closest vertical surface he could find – a wall of some type, and narrowly missed being illuminated by a spot light. It seemed that along with the buildings and military hardware, wherever Ron currently was also had guards. Guards that he didn't really have any interest in meeting, especially since they probably had things like guns. Ron knew his kung-fu was good, probably even the best, but there were serious limits to what you could do when faced with fully automatic weapons. Luckily for him his time at Yamanouchi had given him an education in things other than fighting and with a quick moment to settle his breathing he practiced the most ancient of ninja arts – the art of being unseen.

-

Kim Possible nursed a five-alarm headache with a little bit of the hair of the dog that bit her. She didn't like it, but experience had taught her that it was indeed the best way to cure a hangover. Her one concession to propriety was making sure that she had ducked out of sight before imbibing. It wasn't like she cared much what the Saudi's thought of her, but still, somewhere deep down inside it mattered to her. She didn't know why, but she didn't labor long on thinking about it – she had bigger fish to fry. With one last swig followed by a breath mint, Kim smoothed down her clothes and turned the corner to watch the paramilitaries load the captive into the helicopter.

She felt a slight pang of guilt watching the nearly nude pregnant woman being carted around like a piece of luggage, but the sentiment was quickly overpowered by the memory of the angry confrontation she had experienced with Shego earlier. She had come in wanting to get answers, but instead had gotten the run around. Normally Shego's acerbic wit would have only slightly annoyed Kim, but in the state she had been in last night the older woman's comments had driven her into a bloody frenzy. She wasn't proud of the beating she had given the pregnant woman, but she justified it with a myriad of reasons, ending of course with the fact that Shego was Shego and by that nature probably deserved it.

Kim didn't want to get onboard the helicopter. Truthfully she was feeling emotionally spent – her "revenge" as it were, had been hollow and now all that was left was a feeling of remorse. She wasn't dumb, not by a long shot, so she realized that the relationship between her and Ron was probably at an all-time low and while she had ostensibly set out to capture Shego, Kim's real motivation was to bring about a confrontation with Ron. She had hoped that she might still be able to talk to her "best friend" and convince him to come back with her to Middleton. She had felt sure that if she could just get him away from Shego and whatever influence she was exerting over Ron then she could reason with him. Kim had always been able to make Ron see things her way in the past – it was the bedrock of their relationship; Kim led and Ron followed.

"Miss Possible, it's time to leave!" said a man in heavily accented English. He was wearing bland desert fatigues and holding an aviation helmet in his arms. Kim deduced that he was probably the pilot for the chopper.

"Alright…" Kim drawled and then remembered something. "My stuff?"

The man nodded his head towards the helicopter. "It's already aboard."

Kim sighed softly and then began following the man across the tarmac. She didn't know why but for some reason she was dreading completing this mission. It wasn't like there was anything bad at the end of it, quite the opposite actually – she was getting a handsome bounty from both the Sultan she was handing Shego over to and the Saudi government. Enough money for her to pay back her trust fund, get her parents out of debt and finish college without ever having to work a single day.

_I should be happy. I'm getting paid a huge amount of money for dragging Shego into the deepest, darkest hole imaginable and throwing away the key. With that thing on her neck she's completely powerless, she'll never escape and with her out of the picture it'll be a cinch to snap up Drakken and send him to Leavenworth. Hell, I shouldn't be just happy – I should be doing cartwheels._

Kim climbed onboard the helicopter, accepting a helmet that one of the men offered her. Before putting the helmet on she pulled her hair into a ponytail and marveled at how filthy it was. To her, it seemed that every particle of dust between Middleton and whatever God-forsaken place she was currently in had taken up residence in her mane.

_Oh, this is absolutely… gorchy!_

As the 'copter began to take off Kim silently resolved that the first purchase she'd make with her new found wealth would be about a gallon of hair conditioner.

-

Shego had her eyes closed. She knew people were talking but she couldn't hear them over the constant thrum that the helicopter made in flight, not that it mattered much because they were talking in a language she couldn't speak. She placed it as some sort of Arabic dialect, but that was about as far as she could be certain. She was uncomfortable, but she was managing well due to some tricks she had picked up at Yamanouchi.

When it had become apparent that the likelihood of Shego giving birth at the school was imminent, Yori had taken it upon herself to teach Shego some meditation techniques that she claimed would help during the delivery. Shego had snorted at first, not at the kind offer, but due to the fact that she had assumed that when the time came she would either be threatening Ron with death or blissfully drugged out of her mind. The idea of her serenely meditating was comical enough that when she mentioned it later to Ron that he also chuckled at it. For some reason Shego didn't find that as funny as when she did it, but she let it pass with just a hard stare that silenced the laughter.

Ever since that day Shego had gotten serious about trying to absorb whatever knowledge her new friend could teach her. She was surprised at two things – first off, that she wasn't half bad at it; she had never considered herself to be anything remotely related to the word "calm", and secondly she was astounded at how well the techniques worked.

Given her current state, she was immensely grateful for that fact.

_It's not easy being lazy._

It sounded like something that Ron would say and Shego would roll her eyes at. Ron had been much more… well Ron recently. It seemed that the time they had spent together at Yamanouchi had done good things for both of them, almost as if the place was slowly healing both of them in body and mind; stripping away the weariness that had enveloped them for so many long months. Shego conceded that it was near impossible to imagine Ron, at least his current incarnation, as the bumbling sidekick that she had known previously, but there was the oddly placed rare moment when she looked at him with an almost dumbfounded look on her face. A look that pretty much said it all – I can't believe I'm in love with this guy.

Ron would always look sheepish whenever she gave him one of those looks, but she would quickly replace it with a grin or a giggle. Both of them had changed it seemed; and definitely for the better.

Thinking of Ron, Shego almost broke out in a smile. She was quick however to regain her composure and while she didn't move her body, she twitched her eyes in a sidelong glance to make sure that Kim wasn't watching her. The redhead hadn't yet realized the mistake she had made earlier and Shego was holding out hope that Kim would make a further screw up – one that would allow her to escape.

It was a simple plan, but one that relied heavily on chance and thus became innately more complicated. Shego knew that at any moment she chose, she could destroy the collar around her neck and thus free not only her powers, but remove any threat that Kim would immobilize her. However, doing so would also let her powers blossom unchecked; a situation that could quickly get out of hand.

_Things were bad before Dr. D got this device on me and that was months ago. If I totally destroy the collar there is a good chance that I'll end up dying somewhere – not from a bullet or anything like that, but just from hunger or dehydration._

With Shego's powers running rampant, it meant that everything that came within a meter of her was instantly vaporized and this included simple, but necessary things such as food and water. Sure, no weapons could harm her – but they wouldn't need to if she starved to death. It was with a sense of irony that Shego pondered the fact that she was the one criminal on the face of the planet that no prison could hold, but instead was being held prisoner – by herself.

She knew that there really was only one way out of her predicament and unfortunately it was in the front pocket of Kim Possibles cargo pants. The Kimmunicator, the device that was able to communicate directly with the collar that was around her neck - needed to be destroyed. It was the best solution to a terrible problem; without the Kimmunicator, Kim wouldn't be able to immobilize Shego again and with that out of the way Shego would be free to use her powers in a much more restrained way that would allow her to escape aboard some sort of plane. It wasn't perfect – Kim could still come after her later with another device; but if things went well then Shego would be able to get away to Ron and hopefully get some help at changing the collar's frequency. Of course the problem with the plan, as it were, was that in order for Shego to destroy the Kimmunicator without a chance of Kim realizing what was happening, she needed to be close to her; much closer than she currently was.

Shego wasn't slow, not by any stretch of the imagination. Even with her current pregnant frame she was still athletic and sharp. It was just that Kim was faster. She didn't like to admit it, but the one thing that the younger woman had going for her was the fact that she could move like lightning when she had to. Shego had the unfortunate experience of being on the receiving end of Kim's super human reflexes more than once, so she was intimately aware of the time frame she would need in order to pull off her escape.

It wasn't much.

_And of course there's the 64 million dollar question: Go for the device or go for Kim?_

Shego knew that if Ron even had an idea of what she was currently thinking he'd be very disappointed in her, but as far as she could tell the cold hard facts were that she would only have one chance at this and she couldn't afford to mess it up. If she couldn't destroy the Kimmunicator straight away, then disabling, or even killing Kim would be her next best bet. Almost certainly, Kim, with her larger than normal ego, hadn't filled in the soldiers accompanying them on the details of Shego's capture. It was likely that if Kim were unable for any reason to work the Kimmunicator, then no one else would be able to. If that were true then it would be easy enough for her to destroy the device, defeat her guards and commandeer the helicopter or some other form of transportation.

While she struggled to make up her mind, she cast another glance up towards the front of the aircraft. Kim was alert, not talking to the pilot, but seemingly looking at the scenery as they flew by desert landscapes. Shego pondered making her move right then, but realized that by the time she vaporized her restraints Kim would already have her Kimmunicator out. She needed to be closer, much closer, if this was going to work.

With an internal sigh she closed her eyes and began to recite a mantra that Yori had taught her. It was going to be one hell of a long ride.

-

Ron tapped a few keys on the keyboard and then grinned to himself. People usually associated ninjas with the Hollywood martial arts stereotype, but while yes there was usually some fighting involved in what he once joked to Yori was the "ninja line of work", the truth was that there would be no way that they could have survived, or even thrived in modern times if that was indeed all they did. The fact that Yamanouchi not only still existed, but was bustling with students, was a fairly good indicator of the truth of the situation. Ninja's not only existed, but their job hadn't really changed much in the last thousand years.

They were spies, and in the case of one particular ninja, a damn good one.

In the last hour Ron Stoppable had found out more about the location he was in than the CIA had been able to discover with their spy satellites and paid informants in the last year. Ron rummaged around the desk he was standing at and found a keychain USB drive. Humming slightly to himself he plugged it into the workstation and brought up a file listing.

_Figures – Porn. These Wahabi guys sure love their porn. I wonder what it is about religious fundamentalists; do they just attract an inordinate amount of perv's or do we just notice it more because of what they claim to believe in?_

Ron was considering his next move while absently scrolling through the thumbnails on the USB drive. Whoever had used the workstation before him had either accidentally or stupidly left their email client open and while most of the messages he had read were worthless junk, there had been a few good nuggets of information. First of all, he was likely in Saudi Arabia. Secondly, according to the date on the computer he was only a day and a half in the future. This last bit of information brought him a great deal of comfort – being physical lost is one thing, but not even knowing what time you were in was completely irritating. There were also some rather interesting emails about various activities that Ron was sure certain authorities would love to know, so he did the proper thing and forwarded the messages to a secret email address that was monitored by Wade. Without a doubt the young computer genius would make sure that the information was routed to the correct people.

Ron blew out a slight breath. He knew he had better things to do than to look through some guys secret porn stash, but he was having serious issues coming up with a plan of action. Gnawing at the back of his mind was the fact that the idol had brought him here; but for what reason, Ron couldn't decide. He had been thinking of Shego and wanting to be with her when the idol had transported him, but as far as he could tell she wasn't around here at all. He wondered if perhaps the entire situation was a set up, a trap of some sorts, but if that was true then it would mean that the idol was actively trying to harm him. It seemed like a strange motive to attribute to an inanimate object, but then Ron remembered Monkey Fist and what had happened to him – he had possessed the idol for months and it had somehow warped him into that beast that had died at Ron's hands earlier.

_Ah crap. I'll just think about it later – I need to get out of here and I need to find my wife and I need to… wait, is that BONNIE?_

He had never gotten around to visiting that website that Felix had told him about, but it seemed that the man who possessed this desk had a lot more time on his hands. Ron's eyes bugged out and he was just about to drag the mouse over the thumbnail to enlarge it when all of a sudden a loudspeaker outside crackled to life and a voice began announcing a message in Arabic. His first reaction was to duck and roll underneath the windowsill. He didn't want to take any chances that the message was about him being loose in the compound. It was unlikely, he was sure he had been unseen, but unfortunately for Ron he couldn't understand what the voice was saying.

Cautiously he peeked through the window, taking care to make sure that his head was still in the shadows. Outside the compound was coming to life – armed men were making their way to a center courtyard and within seconds Ron's ears could detect the sound of an approaching helicopter.

_Looks like they have guests… airborne guests. Maybe if I kept a low profile I could steal that 'copter out from underneath them…if I knew how to **fly **one that is._

Ron was a man of many talents, but piloting a helicopter wasn't something that he felt confident he could do. Plus, he had to admit, it was kind of a flashy exit – one that was likely to spur a manhunt for him. After all, militants didn't usually like it very much when people went around stealing their stuff. It would be better, he decided, to wait until the hubbub died down and then to quietly make his way over the chain-link fence that surrounded the compound and steal away into the desert undetected. There was plenty of supplies around, including water and maps, and while it wouldn't be traveling in style – it was highly unlikely that anyone would come looking for him.

_Yep, that's the plan…just hang low, make my way to a cell phone someplace and call in a favor or two. I may not be able to trust Wade for this, but Sensei has connections – it wouldn't be too hard for them to find out where… my wife is._

The last words came awkwardly to Ron. To him he had only been married for a few hours and he wasn't quite use to referring to Shego as "his wife". Hell, it had taken him months to stop calling her "Shego" all the time in his internal monologue. He still occasionally slipped up, but for the most part he tried his hardest to remember to call her Bella. It was what she liked to be called verbally, so Ron was determined to make his thoughts match up with his actions – if he truly loved her then he could do that much at least.

The chopper had landed and the rotors were slowly coming to a standstill. A large group of men formed a single circle around the perimeter of the vehicle, with one small group standing more inward than the rest. Ron studied them carefully, trying to discern who they were. At the head of the group was an older man, probably in his late 50's or early 60's. He had a large, salt and pepper beard and was wearing what could only be described as the paramilitary wing-nuts version of a general's uniform. Obviously he was the big shot of whatever den of weirdoes that Ron had found himself in. Ron could have sworn that the man looked familiar, almost like his identity was just on the very cusp of Ron's memory but try as he might, he couldn't quite place the man.

Eventually the helicopter had come to a complete stop and the large sideways facing door opened. Out stepped a couple of men, one large and burley and another much shorter and lithe. The two made there way across the courtyard and stopped in front of what Ron had dubbed the "head whack job" – his distaste for these kinds of people was obvious. Some words were exchanged, from the older man to the smaller one and then a handshake took place. The head whack job looked displeased somewhat at whatever the other man had told him, but seemed to shrug it off as he stared intently at the helicopter. To Ron it appeared from the man's body language that he didn't particularly care for the smaller man from the helicopter, but instead was bearing with the situation out of some sort of professionalism. He wondered what the cause was. It didn't take him long to find out.

The smaller man turned took a few steps away and reached for his helmet. Within seconds, it had come off and Ron was treated to the sight of a familiar shock of red hair.

_It's Kim. Here. Wait… why is Kim here?_

Kim Possible tucked her helmet under her arm and then looked around the compound. Ron visibly flinched when Kim's gaze settled on his hiding position and for a long moment he was convinced that she could see through the walls and the shadows right to him. Either Kim's senses were good, or it was a big coincidence, but she lingered her vision on Ron's window for what seemed like ages, only reluctantly turning her head back when the older man said something.

_That man… and Kim… wait a minute… shit! Now I remember!_

Ron had seen the man before, over a year ago. He had talked to Team Possible over a videophone about a job he wanted them to do. At first they were slightly interested, but when the Kim found out what the job was – tracking down Shego and turning her over to him, she declined right to his face and abruptly hung up. At the time Ron had been a little perplexed; the man had offered them a huge sum of money for what seemed to Ron as something they would be doing anyway, and he had asked him why she refused. He still remembered the conversation vividly.

"First off Ron", said Kim matter of factly, "We're not bounty hunters. I help people because it's the right thing to do, not for money."

Ron had almost launched into one of his famous whiney, "But Kimmmmmm…" routines, but she silenced him with a hand on his shoulder.

"And also Ron…" Kim paused for a moment.

"This guy isn't completely on the up and up. Handing over a villain to the feds, or to Global Justice is one thing – they're the good guys and they don't do things that they shouldn't. But this guy… well I just don't know."

Ron didn't quite catch on to what Kim was saying.

"What do you mean Kim?" he asked, "What are these 'things'?"

Kim sighed for a moment and then lowered her voice to almost a whisper.

"Torture Ron. They torture their prisoners. Shego is bad Ron, I admit that – but I'm not going to be party to having anyone tortured, even a villain like Shego."

In that moment Ron's already stellar opinion of his best friend skyrocketed to new heights. He knew Kim was a sweet hearted, generous and kind girl, and that she was smart, but she was also something so much more, something that it seemed like a lot of people these days weren't – principled. Kim Possible had her own code of justice, her own morals and she wasn't the type of person to bend them, no matter how easy it would have been to talk herself into it.

Of course that was then, what seemed to Ron as eons ago, and this was now and from what his mind was rapidly piecing together Kim seemed to have had a change of heart.

Ron didn't have to wait long to have his fears confirmed. A ramp had already been lowered from the side of the helicopter and three men were roughly lowering a restrained figure to the ground. Eventually they backed away and Ron was able to get a good look at their prisoner. It was the last piece of the puzzle that he needed to fall into place.

Ron felt that he should have been outraged, furious even, at what Kim had done. But instead he felt only a sublime detachment to the situation. It was almost like he was standing outside of his own skull, observing everyone and everything that was going on. He saw the expression on the older man's face and discerned his excitement at having Shego in his possession – his eyes spoke untold volumes of the horrors that he was greedily anticipating subjecting her to. Ron noticed the haunted look in Kim's own eyes, the shrinking of her body language and the way she seemed to be crawling in her own skin. She wasn't happy to be here, most likely she was having second thoughts about dealing with these men, but she was too far in to back out now.

Ron's vision wandered over to his wife, laying helpless and at the mercy of her captors. Her muscles were tense, her breathing was shallow, her eyes were open but… there was no one home. He suspected a she was in a trance and when he reached out his chi towards her, he wasn't surprised at what he had found – his love evidently, was full of surprises.

_She's ok, the baby's ok – at least for now. I need to get her away from this place, but how?_

It occurred then to Ron that the answer was in his pocket.

Slowly he reached his hand into his kimono and placed his fingers upon the cool crystal surface of the Tempest Simia. It had brought him here, and he realized, it could take him away - him and Shego. All he needed to do was get close enough to physical touch her. Ron took stock of the situation – it was dark, which was good because it would allow him to cover the yards to Shego quickly before anyone could notice him. Immediately surrounding the landing point was a couple of dozen of men armed with assault rifles. They would be a problem, but not an insurmountable one – he had speed and surprise on his side, and he really didn't need to engage them; all he needed to do was flee.

Still, with all that firepower around there was a chance that a stray bullet could hit Shego… or even Kim. Sure, Ron was mad at Kim right now, but he didn't want to settle their differences here and with a bullet. He decided that he would do his best to make sure that Kim was unharmed. Maybe he would even take her with him when he made the time travel jump.

_We can go someplace where we can all sit down and hash this out. Kim isn't going to like it, but she's not going to have much choice in the matter. She's going to have to learn sooner or later that she's not the one with all the power all the time._

Ron stealthily crept from his hiding spot and out a side door where he could hide in the inky blackness of the desert night. Large spotlights rimmed the inner courtyard of the compound, but Ron didn't see them as being a major problem. He would be in and out before it would matter; all he had to do was wait for the proper time to make his move…

When the diesel power generator for the compound blew up with a thunderous explosion, Ron was so stunned that he almost forgot to move. Complete darkness enveloped the area, and while he took off across the courtyard to rescue his wife, he had one major thought on his mind –

_Who the hell did that?_

-

Sub Commander Will Du looked at the data readouts coming across his tactical console. The infiltration team had made its way to the power generator and was ready to destroy it on his mark. They had done their job well and it seemed that the installation's guards were completely unaware of the impending operation. Will wasn't surprised, he himself was an expert in field maneuvers and he had personally trained every man in this squad. They had a reputation as being the elite of the elite and Will was certain that even though the mission ahead looked impossible, they'd somehow manage to pull it off.

For the sixth time in the last 15 minutes Will checked his gear harness and fiddled with his infra-vision goggles. It was ironic that while Global Justice practically cornered the market on high-tech weaponry and devices that it's head of field operations was more or less a complete luddite. It wasn't that Will didn't understand technology, it was just that he was leery of it – in his mind so many levels of complexity just introduced dizzying amounts of potential failures.

_I really wish we had the time to just do a basic snatch and run, or hell – just negotiate with the bastards for the prisoner. Yes, that would be the best way to do it – talk it out and make them understand it's their asses on the line as well. I'd even go so far as to offer them a hefty bribe… it's better than getting one of my men killed over this bitch._

Will sighed and fiddled with one of the flaps on his combat suit. He wasn't thrilled about his current assignment – the capture and transport of one super villain known as Shego. As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter which prison a woman like her ended up rotting in, so long as it was nice and damp and infested with rats. In fact, the more he thought about it, the better the idea of having some barely civilized nation keep a hold of all the world's super villains. He loved his job and he loved his organization, but sometimes Will felt that Global Justice was just a little bit too soft for it's own good. If they had taken his advice about Shego years ago she'd be fertilizing an apple orchard somewhere and this entire mess would have been avoided.

Will comforted himself in a blanket of smug satisfaction at this thought. He had, after all, been right about the woman – she was far too dangerous to let live. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Will could take care of that problem – at least not right now.

_If the eggheads back at headquarters are right about this – about her, then we're all pretty much fucked one way or another. We've got a snowballs chance in hell of getting out of this mess with a result somewhat less than the total extinction of humanity and it's all that green freaks fault._

Betty Director had actually briefed Will on the particulars of the threat and the operation, but even in his internal monologue he was over simplifying. He knew on some level that most people wouldn't choose to become a living bomb capable of wiping out an entire planet, but still he was looking for someone to blame and just saying, "Shit happens" wasn't part of Will's psyche profile. He was far too high strung for that.

"Commander!" shouted one of the computer techs in the forward operations compartment, "We've got a hit sir! Enemy bird approaching…"

The tech poked at a keyboard in front of him with his beefy fingers and brought up a video feed from one of the dozen or so high altitude spy drones and global satellites currently hovering over the desert.

Will peered at the screen and then asked, "That's them, isn't it?"

The tech seemed to fiddle a bit more with his console and then nodded in the affirmative.

"We're using the frequency Dr. Load gave us and the Kimmunicator is onboard. That's them sir."

Will rubbed his chin for a second, it was an annoying habit of his that made people who viewed him think he was a pompous ass – but he wasn't aware of that. Ironically he was just pantomiming what he thought a thinking person would do, which to other people generally made him look less intelligent than he actually was. The tech was no exception and he stared at Will dumbfounded and with an agitation that quickly climbed as critical seconds went by due to Will's play-acting.

"Activate cloaking device, drop to their altitude and follow in the wake. When they land I want us right on top of them – but do it gently, I don't want so much as a slight breeze to blow a strand of Miss Possibles hair out of place."

Will turned away from the man and went back to his command chair to wait while his subordinates carried out his orders. The ship they were in was a new prototype that hadn't gotten very much in the way of field testing, a fact that made Will's technophobe skin crawl, but supposedly it was the most advanced hovercraft ever to grace the sky. In a rather bizarre twist of fate, and one that Will wasn't aware of – and gladly so, because if he had known he most likely would have jumped ship, the design for the craft belonged to one Drew Lipsky – better known to the world as Dr. Drakken.

Drakken it seemed was always losing equipment, or leaving behind valuable research materials whenever he had to flee one of his lairs due to the inevitable crossing of the paths with Kim Possible. At first Global Justice usually left it to local authorities to clean up the messes that were left behind, but eventually some rocket scientist in the R & D department (and he actually was a rocket scientist), got the bright idea of carting away all the miscellaneous technological equipment and attempting to see how, if at all, it worked.

The hovercraft was one of the lucky discoveries that this enterprising scientist had made. It was nearly complete when it arrived on a flat bed truck at the GJ research campus and truthfully, it needed only minor repairs to make it functional. Months of study eventually allowed the GJ scientist to understand enough about the machine that they were able to put their own version of the craft into production. However, when the current mission came up none of these vehicles were ready so in an unusual decision, Betty Director had authorized them to use the current proto-type, in actuality a salvaged hovercraft, for the operation.

Will Du was aware of this and he didn't like it one bit. Using equipment that was created and provided for him by GJ was one thing – it was part of the job, and he could at least trust that the research eggheads would do their best to keep the field agents from being in danger. However, using commandeered equipment was an entirely different matter all together. In his mind, there was no telling what a lunatic like Drakken would put into his own devices. As far as Will knew there was probably something idiotic, like a self destruct switch, under the main pilots chair. Mad geniuses were notoriously unpredictable and quite often demonstrated a psychotic disregard for safety – he just hoped there were no nasty surprises in store for him.

Unfortunately for Will, this was going to prove one of the few times where his fears were actually correct.

The pilot skillfully maneuvered the hovercraft behind the helicopter, trailing it slowly as it landed in the military compound. Accordingly to Will's orders, it hovered silently above and waited. Will studied the external monitors, viewing the scene below and when he had determined that the time was right he pressed a button and spoke into his headset.

"Eagle leader to Magpies – operation is go. Repeat, operation is go."

To his surprise, Will actually felt the generator exploding. He lamented for a moment why the demo team always used so much explosives, but then pushed it out of his mind. He'd dress them down later. For now, he had a job to do.

-

The moments after the generator exploded were a flurry of activity on all sides.

Ron began a loping run across the open tarmac to where his wife was being held, his hand loosely wrapped around the Tempest Simia. He had a nagging fear that at this critical moment the malevolent artifact would betray him somehow, but he prayed that everything would work out.

Kim had swiveled instantly to the source of the explosion, dropping down into a fighting crouch. She had shouted, "What's that? What's going on?" but no one it seemed had their wits about them enough to respond – or even more likely, they didn't know themselves.

Shego hesitated for a moment – she didn't know what to make of he explosion, nor the darkness that had suddenly enveloped the area. However, she was a professional opportunist and she recognized a chance when she saw it. She summoned all her concentration and willed her aching body to be ready for what she was about to do, even though she knew it was improbable that it would co-operate. Her eyes popped open with a fierce jolt and near instantly her green fire vaporized the restraints on her wrists.

Will Du had opened the side panel on the cloaked hovercraft, temporarily revealing it's presence to those below – if they were capable of making it out in the darkness anyway. On his order a barrage of tear gas and flash grenades flew earthbound to the scene below, followed shortly there after by a dozen GJ commandos.

Four forces met together in that small arena with a force of conflict too fast for anyone to react in anyway other than a head long rush towards their goals. Kim was the first person on the ground to understand what was happening, and she covered her eyes to avoid the flash grenades that were quickly disabling the guards around her. Ron wasn't so lucky, and had been caught completely unaware due to the fact he was so intent on making it across the field to Shego. His vision blurred and he staggered for a moment and tried to rub his eyes. Shego herself happened to be the unluckiest of all, with a large grenade going off just a few feet in front of her. She was so startled that she momentarily lost control of her powers, discharging them wildly into the mass of men on the ground, sending many of them flying.

Will Du, on the other hand, calmly rappelled down the side of the hovercraft. The operation was going more or less how he had expected it. His men were already fanning out and pushing the remaining guards to the ground at gunpoint – most of them were either choking on tear gas or otherwise completely disoriented; there wasn't much resistance. Will himself landed on the ground, his boots making a satisfying crunch on the bare earth. Within seconds he had found his target – only the click of his handgun readying itself announced his presence.

"Shego, I've got a pistol pointed right at your head – don't make any sudden moves, GJ is taking you in." he announced in a slow drawl.

Shego didn't say anything. She just stood there emotionless and blank. Internally however she wanted to cry. Everything just kept getting worse and worse and all she wanted was to be with her husband, to have her baby, to have a life. She knew that even if she could see, there was no way that she'd be able to dodge a bullet at that close range – her hopes of escape seemed crushed.

"Will!" screamed Kim in between coughs. She had inadvertently inhaled some of the tear gas before it had settled to the ground.

"Miss Possible, GJ is taking custody of this prisoner. Thank you for assisting in her capture." Will said this with a smirk on his face.

He had never really liked Kim. He considered her an amateur and her continued success in what he thought of as a professional's job only infuriated him. It went without saying that the fact that Betty Director not only continued to rely on the young woman, but had even offered her a job incensed Will Du to no end.

"You can't do that!" protested Kim as she started to find her feet.

"That's right, you can't do that" came another voice from behind her.

Shego's eyes opened – she still couldn't see, but she would have sworn that she heard…

"Ron?" two surprised voices said at the same time.

Almost by divine timing at that very moment the backup lighting turned on and Ron stepped out of the shadows into a dim halo of illumination. The sight before his eyes both infuriated him and caused him to despair; his wife was held at point blank gunpoint by what Ron secretly considered to be the most arrogant ass to ever wear a GJ uniform. To make matters worse, Shego looked like her face had been run through a meat grinder.

"It's me. I'm here." Ron spoke. Kim didn't pick up on the fact that these words were delivered not to her, but to the raven-haired woman a scant few yards away.

Shego tried to focus her eyes on the direction that Ron's voice was coming from – her eyes were still unfocused from the flash grenade that had gone off in her face, but she could have sworn that she could make out the silhouette of her beloved against the backdrop of the dimly light yard.

She smiled at him.

Ron took a good look at Shego's face and felt his stomach do a flip. She had a black eye and bruising around her cheekbone that was a sickly yellow color. Her normally luscious lips were split and scabbed over – a wound that obviously didn't happen recently. He cast a baleful look at Kim, whom, to her credit, seemed to feel enough shame to visibly shrink from him.

Will Du interrupted the moment.

"I'm afraid that not only can I do this, but I am." He made a motion with his free hand to the men in his squad and they quickly formed a circle around him – their weapons drawn outward.

Ron took a step forward, but found his progress stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder. It was Kim.

"Ron, look… Don't do this. They have guns and its just Shego…" she pleaded with him.

"_Just Shego!_" Ron thought to himself, "_Just the woman I love Kim! Just my wife!_"

Ron quickly brushed her aside. His only comment was a brusque "Don't touch me." At that moment there were a million things that Ron Stoppable could have said to Kim Possible that would have hurt her to the core of her being – by either fate, or by virtue of their long association, he had chosen the ones that devastated her the most. She wilted like a flower away from him, her head cast downwards.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Stoppable", stated Will Du, "But I'm not playing around here. I have a Sigma-Epsilon situation here and I've been authorized to use any force to resolve it."

The commandos around Will raised their weapons at Ron. The threat was obvious.

"Don't give me that bullshit Will!" exclaimed Ron, "She's a Japanese national now – and she's been kidnapped. I happen to know for a fact that GJ doesn't have rendition treaties with Saudi Arabia – you don't have a leg to stand on."

Ron took another fateful step forward.

"Now hand her over!" he barked.

Internally Will scoffed at the man. Kidnapping? Treaties? What the hell did these things matter when the alternative was the extinction of the human race? He didn't like it, but he had a job to do and God damn it, he'd do it!

"Kill him." He spoke in a firm voice.

Shego, at that moment, finally came to her senses. The odd thrumming sound at the back of her skull seemed to have finally made it's way through the fog that was enveloping her brain and she came to several realizations.

First, the thrumming was the sound of one of Drakkens hovercrafts. She had piloted, or been onboard enough of them over the years to recognize the distinct sound of the anti-gravity nacelles that made the vehicles unusual mode of locomotion possible.

Secondly, buried deep inside the base of her skull was a very tiny device that she had long ago reluctantly agreed to have implanted in her. It was a tiny microchip; very similar to the one that Ron had been implanted with by Wade; except it had a few subtle differences. Asides from monitoring her health and vital signs and acting like a locator chip (it was after all, how Drakken had managed to retrieve her after she was sent forward in time), it also allowed her to remotely control his signature hovercraft so long as they were within a few miles radius. It was one of Drakken's better-kept secrets and the way in which he had assured that the vehicles always seemed to turn up whenever they needed a quick escape, or a break out of prison.

Thirdly, and lastly, while Shego couldn't actually see the vehicle, the chip inside her skull let her feel where it was – and she knew that it was near directly overhead.

When she heard the first grim staccatos of gunfire a plan instantly formulated in her mind. Reaching out through the device, she did the one thing that she could think of to save Ron's life – she cut the power to the hovercraft.

The effects were not instantaneous, but they were profound. The craft made no noise when it fell, at least not until it landed on the parked helicopter it was hovering over. The crash was thunderous and the impact severe. Hunks of metal, almost all from the less sturdy 'copter, went flying in all directions and the gunfire momentarily halted as everyone looked around for the new threat. Will Du himself, turned instantly to face the noise, but he didn't have time to register what had happened because by some twist of fate the hovercraft had bent down one of the 'copters rotor blades, causing it to deeply impale into his head.

Shego felt the gun fall away from her temple and having forewarning about what was going to happen she was already prepared to drop into a protective crouch. She rolled over on her side to get away from the falling debris, only to catch a glimpse of her husband and his one-time best-friend, railing about the remains of the GJ commando team with fists and feet flying. Luckily for Kim and Ron they had been able to take advantage of the distraction to close the distance between them and the commandos. They were now in melee distance where the fully automatic firepower that the soldiers carried wasn't nearly as effective – these men were trained professionals, but they were also a close knit team and none of them seemed to be willing to risk a shot into the melee that might kill or injure one of their friends.

Within what seemed like a matter of seconds, the battle was over – the soldiers proving no match for the worlds foremost ex-teen super heroine and her former "partner". Kim actually clapped her hands together and nearly cheerily started to talk to Ron.

"Nice moves Ron!" she exclaimed in a strained voice.

For his part, Ron either wasn't interested, or he wasn't buying it. Instead he went directly over to the prone body of Shego and knelt down beside her.

"Bella… I'm here baby. Everything's going to be ok…" he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace.

"Ron… Ron…" she replied. For long moments these were the only words she could get to come out of her mouth. She didn't know when it started, but somehow she had found her cheeks wet with tears. Her body was wracked with sobs and she buried her head into her husband's chest.

Kim Possible merely stood there, stunned, taking in the scene in front of her.

_What's going on? Why is Ron holding her? What did he call her? And… Shego is crying?_

A mixture of emotions overwhelmed the fiery redhead. There was sadness, sadness in knowing that what she was witnessing was the reunion between two people who genuinely cared for each other. There was jealousy, jealousy that the woman in Ron's arms wasn't her. Then there was anger, anger that out of all the women in the world, the one that was with Ron, with her Ron, was the one that she hated most of all.

Her hand, almost on it's own accord, went into her pocket. She didn't know why, or what she had intended to do, but somewhere deep down inside her she was overcome with a desire to end the scene unfolding before her. It was an impulse born of pure malice and jealousy and one that came to her unbidden of rational thought. For the first time in Kim Possible's young life, she wanted to kill someone.

The cool plastic of the Kimmunicator felt alien in her hand as she removed it from her pocket. Her fingers were shaking and her stomach felt like it was going to expel its contents. Ron and Shego were talking in hushed tones now and Kim couldn't make out what they were saying. The way Ron was holding her however said pretty much everything that Kim needed to know. She knew that pose; she knew that gentle embrace.

It was the way that Ron used to hold her.

The device was now in front of her face. Kim tried to focus on the tiny screen but she was having trouble seeing through her tears. Her index finger reached out and gently grazed the touch pad. With a flick of her wrist it would all be over…

It was then; at that exact moment that Kim Possible realized something profoundly important.

She wasn't the girl who could do _anything_; at least, not this.

She dropped the Kimmunicator to the ground disgusted with her self and gazed intently at Ron and Shego. She took in the way that they held each other, the tears in their eyes, the hushed and comforting tones they made. She knew that she had lost him – the man that she loved, and there was no way that she could get that love back. She deduced correctly that the child in Shego's womb most likely belonged to Ron and while she felt a twinge of pain that the green-hued villainess should possess so much that she had thought belonged to her, she also knew that there was no way that she could end the life of Ron's unborn baby.

She did love him. She loved him enough to let him go, to let him be happy, to let him be… well whatever he wanted in life. She had screwed up, and for the first time in long months she had come face to face with that reality and didn't shrink back. She didn't try to bargain for one more chance, to rationalize away her actions, or even to wish desperately that she could go back and undo it all. No, she realized the truth now – she loved Ronald Dean Stoppable, with all her heart even, but she hadn't loved him the right way, the way that he deserved.

She took a few faltering steps toward the couple, the sounds of her boots crunching the ground seemed to echo across the cavernous courtyard. Ron slowly turned his head to face Kim and Shego looked past his shoulder towards Kim as well. She stopped just a few feet in front of the couple.

"Ron…" she began, her voice was cracked and weak. This wasn't how she had imagined this meeting was going to take place.

"Save it Kim," Ron barked back at her. Shego could feel her husband tense up with anger and she tried to comfort him, to let him know that she was there with him emotionally, by squeezing his hand.

Kim blanched for a second and then tried to clear her throat. She didn't know what to say that could make this all better, but she had to try something.

"You'll always be my best friend Ron," she stated in a sad, strained voice.

"Kim…" Ron started to growl at her. He was so angry with her right now, and rightfully so. She had put the lives of his wife and child in jeopardy – it was going to be hard for him to forgive that.

"Please listen Ron!" she began, her voice taking on a semblance of its old fire.

"I don't understand… this, but I do know that I'm sorry… I'm sorry I did this. I'm sorry I brought this down on you." Her voice was seriously cracking now.

She looked directly at Shego and continued to speak.

"Shego…" her voice trailed off for a second, "I'm sorry Shego. I should have listened to Ron – I didn't know, not that it makes what I did any better…"

Kim, never in a million years, thought that she would ever be apologizing to Shego. It was something that was so… un-Kim-like that Ron was actually taken aback for a moment, enough so that he begrudgingly pushed aside his anger at Kim to really listen to what she was trying to say.

Shego didn't respond to Kim. She wasn't going to say something trite like, "That's alright", or "Don't worry about it", because in truth what Kim had done was completely beyond the pale and both women knew it. Instead she merely nodded her head at Kim, acknowledging the sentiment, but not offering absolution or condemnation.

Kim continued to speak, "I know this is going to be hard to do… but I hope that someday we can patch things up Ron – and I don't mean by being your girlfriend again. I think you deserve something better than what I was able to give you…."

Kim looked at the couple in front of her.

"And as crazy as it seems, I think that maybe you've found it…"

Kim couldn't believe that she had just said that. This was Shego that she was talking about after all! Still, the way she looked at Ron and the fact that she was most likely carrying his child… Kim silently prayed for them. Instead of being jealous that her love was having a baby with another woman, she put their welfare above her own hurt – she wanted that baby to grow up with a loving family that would always be there for it. She knew intimately just how important that was.

A soft, almost healing silence, hung around the trio. There was some tension in the air still, but things that had been said that needed to be said and while they were awkward and weird, everyone involved seemed to be, if not accepting, willing to entertain them as ideas.

Ron spoke up.

"Kim, this is going to take some time to set right. But I want you to know… you'll always be my best friend too."

Ron ventured a little smile towards his life long friend and Kim started to return that smile, her own lips were turned up slightly when all of a sudden a look of shock, or surprise crossed her face. Ron was slow to register what was going on, but he knew instantly something was wrong!

Kim had seen something that neither Ron nor Shego had. Hiding with the shadows, just on the outside of the battle that had been waged, was one of the militants that had seemed to have escaped complete incapacitation. He wasn't quite completely upright, and he was leaning heavily on his right side, but he had this assault rifle out and aimed… directly at the couple on the ground. He didn't know who they were, nor what part they had played in injuries he had sustained and the affront to the dignity his brothers had suffered, but he knew one thing – they were outsiders, infidels if you will, and they had to die.

Kim Possible, with her nearly supernatural reflexes, was quick to react to the perceived threat. Ron and Shego were on the ground – prone, and there was no way that she could warn them in time for them to escape harm. The man was already about to fire and Kim knew that she had no time to disable him, or take away his weapon. She had two choices at that moment, save her friend, or watch him die.

She chose the former.

With a quick leap, Kim launched herself at Ron and Shego, pushing them back and partially covering their bodies with her own. Bullets flew by the top of their huddled mass, ricocheting off of the downed hovercraft and ruined 'copter behind them. Their assailant was weak, wounded most likely, and he lacked the strength to properly aim his weapon, so the shots were for the most part, extremely off the mark.

Shego took it upon herself to end the threat to herself and her husband – she fired up one of her fists and with an expert aim developed through years of practice, she caught the man square in the face, sending him cart wheeling backwards into the dirt.

The trio laid on the ground there a pregnant second, the adrenaline in their system making their heads dizzy. Eventually Ron spoke up, "Lets get the hell out of here before that happens again."

He picked himself off the ground and extended a hand to the pregnant Shego, who needed assistance to get up from the dirt. Then he turned back to his friend Kim and offered his hand to her.

Kim reached up, her gloved fingers touching Ron's hand for a moment and then falling back to her side. She blinked for a moment, her eyes staring up at Ron.

"Hey KP…" Ron started, "Are you ok?

Kim looked at Ron quizzically for a moment, almost as if to say, "Of course I'm fine!", but when she went to open her mouth instead of those words being uttered, all that came from in between her lips was a thick, red stream of blood.

Kim saw the look of horror that spread over Ron's face and she went to ask him what was wrong, but instead of words forming her lips contorted and her mouth flopped open and close like a fish out of water. Suddenly her body was wracked with violent coughing as the blood began to seep into her lungs.

"Kim!" Ron shouted, "Oh God Kim… don't talk, don't try to talk!"

Shego was dizzy – for some reason she didn't understand every time she had tried to use her power recently she had been overcome with a wave of nausea; this time proving to be no exception. She waited for a moment, collecting herself and then waddled over to Ron and looked down at Kim. She saw the blood and then she knew.

_She's dying._

Ron flipped Kim up on her side, letting the blood flow freely now from her mouth – it was an attempt on his part to make sure that she didn't choke to death on her own life's blood, but when he moved her he noticed the wounds – bullet holes in her back. Kim had been shot and the blood was everywhere.

Ron had seen people die before, even people that he had been close to. He had witnessed his close friends, people he loved, die some of the most painful and horrible deaths imaginable. Still, none of that had prepared him to bear witness to the death of Kimberly Anne Possible. A sob broke free of his throat and he gathered Kim's weakening form into his arms, holding her face close to his so that she could look into his eyes. Kim actually smiled at him, a pure, innocent smile, like the ones that she used to give him when they were children. The kind of smile that had made him fall in love with her before he even knew he liked girls.

Shego put her hand on Ron's shoulder. She knew that this was going to be hard for her husband and even though she had her differences with Kim, she had been a huge part of Ron's life. When other people had picked on Ron, or called him a loser, Kim had always been there for him. When other people had thought Ron was a freak, or an outcast, Kim had been there for him. Although Shego hadn't really appreciated it until now, if it wasn't for the fact that Ron had Kim's friendship, the man that she loved today might not exist.

Because of this, in some small way, Shego decided that she too loved Kim Possible. It wasn't the same as the way Ron felt about her, or even the way her friends felt about her. It was a respectful love, like loving the rain because it made the flowers bloom.

Death came inevitably to Kim Possible and almost as if it was pre-ordained, Ron Stoppable was at her side. He held her now lifeless form close to his body and wept uncontrollably. Shego hated doing it, she felt for sure that Ron needed more time to grieve, especially after everything that had happened, but she knew that they were running out of time. Already in the distance she could hear the sound of engines stalking them in the desert night. The longer they stayed here, the more likely it was that this scene would repeat itself and frankly there had been so much death tonight that Shego felt a huge internal conflict – she had never shied away from killing when she had to, but she felt weary and her soul was ill at ease. She thought idly that mothers should only be bringing life into the world, not sowing death in their wake. She'd defend herself and her husband and their child if she had to, but right now, at this exact moment, she preferred to avoid any potential conflicts all together. She did not want her sins to be passed down to the innocent life inside her.

"Ron…" she said softly, "We need to go. More soldiers are coming."

She gently laid her hand on the back of Ron's neck while she said this, softly massaging him and trying to ease his pain.

Ron nodded his head and tried to collect himself. He struggled to get to his feet, Kim's body still in his arms. Shego helped him right himself and then nodded her head in the direction of the fallen hovercraft.

"Let's get her inside the hovercraft. It should still work – Drakken's inventions are pretty durable."

Ron merely nodded at her again. Obviously he was too overcome with grief to talk at this point. Shego understood this and she put her hand on his arm and led him to the craft. Together they placed Kim's fallen form inside and then helped each other climb on board. Within minutes they were hurtling through the night sky, leaving the sight of all the carnage behind them, but carrying forward with heavy hearts.

-

Shego set the autopilot on the hovercraft on a direct course for Japan and then made her way to the back of the vehicle. Ron was sitting there alone, looking down at his hands and barely making any noise. She was thankful that Ron had taken her suggestion and placed Kim's body directly out of sight – she could only think of how horrible it would be for Ron to have to see his friends' corpse non-stop for the entire duration of their flight home.

"Ron honey… how are you doing?" she asked as she waddled over to sit next to him.

Ron didn't respond directly, or verbally even. Instead he reached out his arms and put them around Shego's much-expanded waist, pulling her into an awkward half embrace that found his face resting against her stomach.

"I'm devastated Bella. She…Kim… She was my best friend for nearly my entire life. She was always looking out for me when we were kids, even now when things were at their worst… she was still looking out for me."

Shego didn't say anything. She just ran her fingers through Ron's tow headed hair.

"How are you Bella?" He asked, turning his face up to meet her gaze, "How is the baby? Is everything ok?"

Shego paused for a moment, unsure exactly what she should say. After a brief internal conflict, she decided to level with Ron.

"I don't know Ron," she stated flatly.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" asked Ron. A tone of anxiety had crept into his voice.

"Shh… calm down honey," Shego said in soothing tones, "I just… don't know. I don't feel particularly bad, but…"

Ron arched an eyebrow. He hated "buts".

"When I used my power before… and twice before that actually, each time I felt really, really sick. Like sick to my stomach sick. I don't know why and I don't really know if it's new or not because I've been trying to avoid using my power for months now…"

Ron instantly picked up on the slightly scared undercurrents in Shego's voice. He wondered what it must be like to be her – to feel like your own body was constantly betraying you and to know that there was precious little you, or anyone else for that matter, could do for you.

"We're turning around," Ron stated flatly.

"What?" asked Shego.

"We need to get you to a doctor – a specialist of some kind… I don't know, but someone!" Ron was obviously panicking.

Shego knelt down next to run and put her head on his shoulder, leaning against him and rubbing her face into his neck.

"I don't think we'll be able to find a specialist for whatever is wrong with me…" she said softly.

Ron knew that this was true, but he wanted to take some kind of action. He had just lost his best friend and he was terrified that he was losing his wife and their child as well. For the first time since he was a teenager, he felt completely and utterly powerless. He didn't like it, not one bit.

"Maybe we can call Wade" Ron offered.

Shego looked up at her husband, she could see the worry in his eyes and she understood that he was doing his best to keep it under control.

"Again Ron? Is he really going to be able to tell us anything new?"

Both of them sat quietly for a minute, holding each others hands. Eventually Ron grunted and righted himself.

"Where are you going?" Shego asked.

Ron sighed deeply.

"I'm going to make the call," He saw the face his wife made at him and added, "I know, I know… but it's all we really have right now and also… I need to tell him about Kim."

Shego nodded to her husband and muttered a soft, "Ok…"

To say she was skeptical that the young super-genius would be able to help her would be putting it mildly. Still, she knew that logically there was no harm in asking – it was just that she was afraid of the answer. She thought, naively even, that the less she knew about her condition, the better. Almost as if by ignoring the changes that were happening in her body, she could make them somehow less real and thus less threatening. No one wants bad news after all, so why go asking for it?

Ron had moved over to the pilot's chair and began fiddling with the communications equipment helplessly. It was obvious that he didn't know exactly how to operate the high tech videophone. He looked up plaintively at his wife - against her better judgment and insecurities she relented and helped him make the call.

"Wade?" Ron asked when the connection was finally made.

"Uh… Ron? Wait… RON!" gasped Wade.

By now the two-way screen had come into complete focus and both men could see each other. Wade had obviously been sleeping – part of his tightly curled hair jutted out from the side of his head like the crest of a wave, and while Ron wasn't sure exactly what the younger man had thought of as passing fashion (especially since he did live in his parent's basement) he was pretty certain that even Wade wouldn't like to be publicly seen in an obviously stained t-shirt.

"Sorry to wake you up Wade, but I have some really bad news for you…" Ron let his voice trail off. He knew he had to break the news to Wade; not just because he was the only one that knew at this point in time, but also because it would be the right thing to do. He was, after all, part of their little world saving team.

"Um… Ron…" Wade seemed to look at something off to his left, "Why are you onboard a GJ craft… and where are the GJ crew?"

Ron just rolled his eyes. Wade was never all that good at tricking people, especially people who knew him well.

"Wade, who's over there right now?" Ron deadpanned.

Again Wade looked over to his left, his gaze lingering for a few moments. Unexpectedly he lunged at the camera –

"Ron! This isn't a secure line! Run for it Ron, GJ is tracking this transmission! You've got to – "

A pair of hands reached for Wade from outside the frame and grabbed the man around the shoulders, wrenching him from his seat at his desk. Wade tried to fend them off, but he was a computer genius not an operative, it didn't take long for the phantom arms to remove him.

"Hey put him down!" shouted Ron impotently at the screen. He had no idea what exactly was going on, but the fact that someone was actually inside Wade's basement sanctum didn't bode well.

A black clad torso covered the angle of the camera shot for a second, and then the figure sat down in Wade's chair – reaching forward to grab the headset microphone from the desk. Ron and Shego both recognized the figure before them – Dr. Betty Director.

"Stoppable – I see your in the process of committing yet another felony. That's a stolen craft you're piloting and with a wanted fugitive. Any excuses for yourself?" asked Dr. Director in an overly placid tone.

"Excuses!" shot Ron back at her, "What about assault, illegal abduction, imprisonment and extraordinary rendition? What about violating practically every article in the United Nations convention on criminal justice? What about –"

"Cut the crap Stoppable!" barked Dr. Director into the microphone, "We don't have time for this. You need to bring Shego in to GJ headquarters now or I'm sending every single unit we can after you. I don't care how many treaties I have to break!"

Ron stared dumbfounded at the screen. This wasn't the Dr. Director that he was used to, or the one that he had known when he was a teenager. The woman was always serious, always commanding and in charge, but she had never seemed so… desperate. Something was definitely up.

"What's going on Betty?" asked Ron as he narrowed his eyes and peered into the screen like he was a professional poker player trying to read an opponent's tell.

"Your friend there…" Betty began.

"Wife." Ron interrupted.

Betty raised her one good eye at this news – she had heard rumors, but had hardly believed them to be credible. It went to show how strange the world really was.

"Ok, wife then. Your wife is most likely going to cause the extinction of the human race."

Ron scoffed at this and turned his head back to Shego to give her a look that showed what he had thought of Dr. Directors comments. He wasn't prepared for the expression on her face. Shego seemed to be taken aback, almost… aghast, as if she was buying in to what Ron assumed was the hyperbole of some half-cocked law enforcement fanatic.

Shego returned Ron's look by snapping out of her own reverie and gently squeezing his shoulder. She then slightly bent over so that her face became more prominent in the video feed. She needed to ask some of her own questions.

"What do you mean by this?" she said with a hint of apprehension in her voice.

Betty wasn't expecting Shego to talk to her, nor was she actually expecting the tone of concern in the woman's voice. With the obvious failure of Will Du's extraction team, the situation was getting desperate and truthfully, Betty feared that they had already run out of time. It was a gamble, but she hoped if she could just make the woman understand what was at risk here, then maybe, just maybe, she could get her compliance.

"Your powers are going out of control, aren't they?" Betty began.

Shego nodded, "That's not a secret."

"That's not the point," Betty was doing her best to try and remain calm. She really needed to talk Shego into seeing things her way if there was going to be anything close to resembling a decent end to this crisis.

"Look Shego, Wade did some work on the data that the Japanese were able to collect from you and he ran some simulations on it. It didn't look good, so he contacted us."

Ron groaned internally. He had given Wade specific instructions not to contact anyone at GJ.

"Don't make that face Stoppable," shot Betty, "Before we ran the numbers past our own scientists I was more than happy to let Shego cool her heels in Japan. No offense to her but frankly GJ has bigger fish to fry."

"Anyway, our own guys went over Wade's data, ran his simulations and then came up with some of our own. The news wasn't good." Betty seemed to pause for a moment to gather her breath.

"Basically Shego; You're a bomb. You're going to explode and you'll probably take most of the planet with you."

Ron laughed out loud at this pronouncement, seemingly oblivious to the dire expression on Betty Director's face. Shego however, just looked intently at the woman – wondering if this was just some kind of trick. She didn't know how, or why, but somewhere in the back of her mind, something was telling her that at its essence, what the woman said was true.

"So you want to kill me?" asked Shego in a strange, detached voice.

"Well, personally? No. If I thought it would save the planet, then yes," responded Betty.

Ron couldn't believe his ears. He did a double take from his wife to the video feed and then back again.

"Wait a minute, you're serious about this?" asked Ron in shock.

"Yes, Ron – I'm deadly serious about this. If the young Mr. Load has calmed down enough, then maybe he could explain it. –" Betty looked off to the side and then nodded.

Wade seemed to be almost shoved back into the camera frame. He leaned forward, both of his arms supporting him on the desk and then began to speak.

"Ron… Shego… I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everything Dr. Director said is true."

The young man looked to be on the verge of tears. Shego and Ron just looked at each other and then, without words, moved a little closer – taking comfort in their bodies physical proximity while they prepared to listen to whatever bad news Wade had in store for them.

"Shego's body, her very cells even, act like a gate, or a dam even. We don't know where exactly the power comes from, but what we do know is that normally her body is capable of handling its discharge. That's why she doesn't just randomly start igniting or flaring up at odd moments."

"Okay so…" interrupted Ron.

"I'm getting to that Ron," continued Wade, "Her power levels have been increasing steadily since the first time we took readings. In fact, they've been increasing exponentially. It's so much power that her body just can't hold it in anymore."

"What about the collar that Drakken made?" asked Shego.

Wade shook his head.

"The collar just suppresses your bodies natural release mechanisms. The power is still building up inside you, in fact it's probably saturated your body to the point that I'm surprised you're still standing. Actually…" Wade's voice trailed off for a second as he seemed to ponder something, "Have you been feeling strange recently Shego? Any sort of odd physical symptoms? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Shego sighed and nodded her head.

"Every time I've tried to use my power… I get sick to my stomach. Physically weak, like I'm going to throw up or black out. I haven't been using it much because of this. In fact, the last time I used it, I almost passed out and fell over."

Wade seemed to contemplate this information for a moment.

"I think", he started, "this is probably a really bad sign. The energy has most likely invaded your body on a cellular level."

"Uh hello, Wade?" Ron broke in, "Lets pretend that I don't know what that means for a second."

"Oh," the young genius continued, "Every time Shego tries to use her powers, instead of just channeling it from wherever it comes from through her body, it's so back logged that it's actually channeling her physical cells. That's probably why she gets sick after using it – her body is actually expelling part of itself every time she lights up."

Shego slumped down beside Ron and leaned her head upon his shoulder. For his part, Ron was trying to keep his cool, to keep some hope, but it was getting harder and harder as the conversation continued.

"What if she doesn't use her power Wade?" asked Ron desperately.

"Doesn't matter – She can only hold so much Ron. Eventually the molecules that make up her body are just going to start… well exploding. And of course once we get to that point… well lets just say that it's pretty much over."

"Damn it Wade!" said Ron as he slammed his fist down into the communication console, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Ron, I know this is hard but we don't have many options right now. If we had years to study Shego we might be able to devise some sort of way of helping her without putting us all at risk, but we just don't have that time man! If my calculations are anywhere close to correct, her body could start to break down in a chain reaction any second."

This wasn't what Ron wanted to hear. In his anger and frustration he clawed at the surface of the console with his fingers and gritted his teeth. He wondered idly what he had done to cause the universe to hate him so much. He wondered what he had done to deserve to lose everything in his life that mattered the most to him in the same day. Ron was just about to slam his fist down in fury and bark another set of seemingly unreasonable demands when he found himself brought up short.

Shego, still leaning against her husband's side, had moved her face and with it, her lips, up to her husbands ear. She exhaled softy, her hot breath getting Ron's attention and then she kissed him gently and whispered a sweet and simple phrase.

"I love you."

With the pronouncement of those three words, Ron felt all of his anger that was threatening to boil over subside. In his frustration and pity he had almost forgotten the reason why he was so mad – this woman next to him was his wife, the most important person in the world to him, and she must be absolutely terrified. Ron was in awe of this woman and the amount of grace that she showed under her own imminent doom.

Ron reached his free hand over to the console and shut off the video feed. If somehow he managed to live long enough, he'd tell the world about the sacrifice of Kim Possible and how she had played her own part in saving the world one last time, but for now Ron wasn't sure that the world had been saved. It seemed that the final act of the play had been left for him to write.

_How will I end this? What will I do?_

He gazed into Shego's eyes, cupping her face with his hands. He smiled at her and then passionately kissed her full on the lips, they tasted sweet yet salty. She was crying.

"Um… don't cry?" ventured Ron when he broke away their kiss.

"It's awful damn hard not to right now…" complained Shego as she buried her head into Ron's chest.

He ran his fingers through her hair in a comforting gesture and snuggled her close.

"I know, it was a stupid thing to say," he admitted.

"That's one of the reasons why I love you so much," she rejoined.

"Ron…" she began, "I can feel it. I can feel it starting."

Truthfully Ron didn't need Shego to tell him this; he could see it with his own eyes. Her green cosmic glow that had been so subdued over the last few months had come back with a vengeance. It surrounded her like a bright nimbus of emerald fire. For now however, it didn't burn and was cool to the touch. How much longer this would last… Ron didn't know.

"Oh God Ron!" shouted Shego as she sprang backwards, "Get away from me!"

Ron reached forward to grab her, but Shego twisted away from him.

"No!" she shouted, "Stay away…" she sobbed a giant body wrenching sob, "please… stay away."

"Not this time," Ron stated bluntly, "I'm not going anywhere Bella. I'm going to be here. With you. Until the end. That's what it means, 'till death do you part'."

Shego hunched backwards against the side of the hovercraft, huddling down and clenching her stomach.

_I'm sorry… I'm so sorry little one. I want you to know that I so desperately wanted to be your mother. Please forgive me._

"Ron, I'm sorry…" Shego started.

"No Bella, I'm the one that's sorry. I'm a poor excuse for a husband; I couldn't protect you from… this. If I hadn't brought you along that night in London, then maybe all this wouldn't be happening!"

"No!" shouted Shego.

"Whatever else you feel Ron, I don't ever want you to be sorry for what happened between us. You gave me so much Ron, you made my life so… full. If this is the price that I have to pay for living that kind of happiness, then I don't mind…" her voice trailed off.

Ron was dumbfounded. He finally understood what exactly he meant to Shego and he was humbled by this knowledge.

"Ron… I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill my brothers, or my family, or your family, or Yori, or your friends… Ron I don't want to kill the world."

Shego was crying hysterically now and despite the fact that the light around her had grown to a fierce intensity, Ron was right there beside her. He leaned in and kissed her strongly – her body was warm, bordering on hot. Obviously the chain reaction that Wade had warned about was already under way. Ron closed his eyes and then silently prayed to God for some help, for some divine wisdom, for some inspiration. He prayed for a miracle.

That's when he remembered, he wasn't completely out of tricks yet.

Ron reached into his clothes and found what he was searching for. It's cool crystalline surface felt oddly warm to his touch, but he didn't take any note of it. He thought to himself that he probably couldn't save the woman he loved and he most likely wouldn't be able to save himself, but he was pretty sure that he could do one thing…

Save the world one last time.

Just as the energy building up in Shego's body was about to burst forth, Ron grabbed her in his arms, ignoring for a moment the intense heat that burned his skin. He held the Tempest Simia in his hands and then he concentrated very hard on moving forward in time.

_From point a, to point b…_

He felt the idol activate and when it did he was surprised that the heat that Shego's body was giving off seemed to diminish. It was almost as if… the idol was feeding off her cosmic power.

_Where have I seen this before? Wait, is THIS the cause? Is this why her powers went haywire?_

He looked at the beautiful woman in his arms as they flew through the ethereal currents of time. She wasn't conscious anymore and Ron acknowledged that there was a good chance that she was either dead, or in the process of dying and there was pretty much nothing he could do about it.

_Don't worry Bella, everyone else is going to be fine. It's just you and me now and I'm not going to leave you._

When Ron had activated the idol he hadn't had much in the way of a plan formulated in his head. All he could think of was taking Shego away, someplace far away, where the imminent release of her pent up energies would do minimal harm to the people living on Earth. With those thoughts in mind the idol had been triggered and sent them hurtling through the cosmos.

They arrived in the future, just in time it seemed, to bear witness to the super nova of Earth's sun. It was an amazing event that Ron had never in his wildest dreams thought he would witness, and even though he had only seconds to realize what was happening, he felt oddly at peace as his corporal form was carried away out of existence.

So ended the lives of Ronald and "Bella" Stoppable. Ron had kept his word, and they were indeed together right up until the end. Just like a husband and wife should be.

-

It seemed however that the universe still had other plans for Ronald Dean Stoppable.

He awoke with a start, a silent cry on his lips and burdened with a physical sensation like every fiber in his body was on fire. Even though it had seemed like such a long time, his body intimately remembered the excruciating pain of rebirth and it echoed in his mind like a ghost – present and past pains, mingling together until he forgot where one ended and the other began. He laid there for long minutes, silently listening to his heart beat pound away and the blood move up his neck and through his head.

He was alive damn it. Why was he alive?

The room was for the most part dark, but Ron didn't need to see it very well to make out where he was. Indeed, the room and it's interior were indelibly etched into his mind – they were always the first thing that he saw whenever the infernal time loop he was caught in retracted like a rubber band, snapping his back into existence at this singular point. He rolled over on his side, studying the carved statue of the Monkey King as the slender shafts of sunlight that managed to enter through the cracked roof, started to dwindle.

_Why do you keep doing this to me? I thought I had done what you wanted… I accepted the power! Why? WHY?_

Ron hung his head in shame. He knew that there would be no answers to that question, if even there were an answer that could be found to satisfy him. He had spent long nights screaming into the darkness of his soul, bargaining with the unknown, pleading with fate, that the silence was expected. No one ever called back to him when he railed against his destiny. No one probably ever would.

He moved to both hands, then pushed himself gently up. He was hungry and he knew from experience that the closest food was nearly two hours walk away. It would give him plenty of time to start thinking about what to do.

_Wait a minute… why should I bother with that? Obviously defeating Fiske has nothing to do with the entire thing!_

The realization hit Ron like a ton of bricks. He had spent literally lifetimes battling Monkey Fist in the past, and now that he had defeated the man – literally ripped him apart with his bare hands, he still found himself waking up in the same ruined remote shrine - his feet plodding along the same path as before. There was only one conclusion that he could draw from this –

He'd been wrong.

Wrong about what his purpose was. Wrong about what he needed to do. Wrong about the approach he had taken. Wrong about everything. Absolutely everything that he had believed to be necessary, every task he had set for himself, every plot he had concocted, every deception, every quest, every motion he had ever made… They were all wrong.

It was enough to make him want to fall over and break down in tears.

Ron stopped at what should have been the entrance to the shrine, only to find out his second shock in just as many minutes.

The door was gone.

Actually, to say the door was "gone" wouldn't be entirely appropriate. The door, or more accurately, where the door should have been was gone. And in it's place stood what appeared to be a rather large boulder.

_This is… new?_

Suddenly all the despair that Ron had been feeling up until a moment ago was replaced with such a profound feeling of excitement that he felt like he would literally jump out of his skin. He sized up the boulder for a mere second, then reached deep down inside himself and found what he needed – a blue flash welled up in his eyes and with almost supernatural ease, he shoved the giant rock clear of his path.

The sight that greeted his eyes was nearly beyond comprehension. He had expected to see the same rustic and near abandoned countryside that always welcomed him whenever he came down from the mountain, except of course, it was gone. Where once there had been a lush forest stood a forest of another kind, a forest of homes, each one sporting chimneys bellowing smoke. Ron looked to his left and another sight caught his eye…

_Is that a… cell-phone tower? What the hell is going on?_

Indeed, things were most definitely not how Ron had remembered them. A certain set of possibilities started to form in his mind, but he pushed them aside. It was too premature for him to hold any hope; at least until he was able to gather more information… but maybe, just maybe, he could do something amazing. Something that ran completely counter to what most people knew as time.

Maybe he could change the past, by changing the future.

Without wasting another second, Ron raced down the hillside at a galloping pace. He needed information more than food, and once he had sated one appetite he would take care of the other, but for now, he had work to do.

-

"Well, that should take care of it for now!" exclaimed the woman as she swept the last remnants of the winter accumulation of dust out her front door.

It was a nice day in mid may and the long midwestern winter had finally given away to a refreshing spring breeze that she was currently coaxing through her home via every available open window and door she could find. She was a little miffed that her husband had been called into work, with it being Sunday and all, but it was something that she was used to and rightfully couldn't complain about – before she had retired she used to be nearly as bad, if not worse. Still, it would have been nice for him to be home today. If not for the extra help with her spring-cleaning, at least just to have him around for company – they were, after all, not only married, but absolutely best friends.

She stopped for a moment and rested on the front porch of her home. It was a modest house in a modest neighborhood. Her family could most definitely afford bigger and better, but her husband liked the town and it's people and while she at first had been a little reluctant to settle down here, she also had come to love the place just as much as he had. It was a good town, she thought to herself, a fine place to have a family and for them to raise their children.

Almost on cue, a loud crash from the backyard shocked her out of her reverie.

_Yes, lovely children that are probably destroying their father's tool shed right this minute._

Without missing a beat, she skipped through the open door and out towards the rear kitchen, poking her head out the open window and looking to see what the damage was.

"Hey! What's going on back here?" she called into the yard.

Two sheepish faces popped up from right below the windowsill, giving her a mild start.

"Sorry mommy!" they said in unison.

She eyed them with a wary look, using that expression that only mothers seem to possess and even then only when they really wanted to make sure that you weren't trying to pull a fast one on them.

"Oh really? What was that noise I heard then?" she asked suspiciously.

The older one, a girl, spoke up, "We were cleaning daddy's shed like you asked us too…"

The younger one, a boy, continued, "… and we accidentally dropped some stuff."

The two children's mother sized them up for a second. It made them both extremely nervous whenever their mother looked at them like this, almost as if she was reading their minds.

"Is anything broken?" she finally asked.

"No…" they both said together.

"Well then, clean it up and try to be quiet. I just got your sister to lay down for her nap."

At that, both of the children took off like rockets for the relative safety of the shed. They both loved their mother, but they knew intimately that she wasn't the kind of mom that you messed with – not if you wanted to get out alive. And truthfully, they hadn't really broken very many things… at least not anything their father used quite often. With any luck, it would be months before he even discovered that anything was wrong and while it was unlikely, there was always a hope that their mother would forget today by the time that happened.

_I swear, what did I do to deserve children that act just like me?_

She giggled a little bit at this thought and then pulled her head back into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator to retrieve a can of diet cola, she walked over to the kitchen table to look at the final bit of work that she had laid out for herself today.

It wasn't really cleaning, well not really, although some of the materials had been taking up space in their closet. It was more of a project that she had taken upon herself for fun. Littered across the table was an odd collection of photos, newspaper clippings, magazines and letters that had been for the most part buried in a loose collection of shoeboxes for going on near a decade. She had tried to organize all these memories before, but every time she got started something always distracted her and she rationalized it by saying she'd always have more time to do it later. Now however, the children were getting older and after she had given birth to her latest one, it seemed that the time had finally come. Sure, the kids wouldn't appreciate it now, but some day when they were teenagers she'd be able to pull out this scrapbook and show them memories of their mother and father that they'd only be able to barely guess at.

Her hands gently grazed the memorabilia scattered across the table, almost as if she was trying to sense from touch where she should begin. Eventually she settled over the first item – a photo of her and her husband back from when she was still in high school. It had been one of her favorite pictures of them, not really because either one of them had looked so great, but because you could tell from the picture that they were having so much fun. She smiled when she remembered the day and then placed the photo in between two pages of her book. She wasn't going to mount anything, at least not just right now, but instead she was more interested in just getting a feel for how she wanted things to be presented.

The next thing she picked up was an old magazine dated nearly two decades ago. It wasn't one that she had read often, but she kept it because of the cover and it's proclamation, "Teen Hero Marries Partner". The picture was excellent and it irked her that it was taken by paparazzi instead of their wedding photographer, but still… it looked so perfect that she had to keep it. She remembered actually calling up the magazine when she had gotten wind that they were going to run her wedding on the front cover. She had never told her husband but the original headline was, "Teen Hero Marries Sidekick" until she asked them to alter it – It wasn't that he would have minded so much, but she had always made it clear that even though he had stayed pretty much out of the public eye, that they were a team. They were partners.

People had been surprised that she had gotten married so young, in fact even her parents, although they weren't surprised quite as much, were more than a little worried about her tying the knot at such a young age. Although they hadn't had much say in the matter, she had eventually won them over by telling them that she felt so strongly about it, that she just wanted to do it as soon as she could. For her, it seemed like a waste of time to put off doing something that you knew, deep down inside, was absolutely the right thing to do.

After all, from the moment he had entered her life, she knew that everything in her world was about to change.

-

It had been another long and thankless night of saving the world for a bunch of people that probably could care less about her. She didn't like to think of things this way, but facts were facts. It was five days before the junior prom and she still didn't have a date.

Her family told her she was being melodramatic, but then again they didn't have to walk in her shoes. They didn't know what it was like to be a girl and to be different, to have boys be afraid of you because of your "hobby" – how many men out there would appreciate the fact that she could roundhouse kick a villain through a window?

She saved the world on almost a weekly basis, and what did she get out of it? The disapproving glares from the other girls on the cheer squad, constant berating from the kids at the top of the school's "food chain", and completely ostracized from having even a somewhat normal high school life. Hell, the way she was going she probably couldn't even get a member of the chess club to go with her to the dance.

Dejectedly she slunk down the hall to her locker, not noticing until she was already there that someone was waiting for her.

"Hey…" he began.

She looked upwards at him, shocked that a person, a real live, actual person, was talking to her.

"Uh… Hey?" she offered lamely.

_Oh nice one! Way to come off as a total brain dead bimbo._

The young man looked nervously around him, like he was looking for someone to bail him out of an uncomfortable situation he had gotten into. Eventually he seemed to master his nerves and continued to talk.

"I was wondering…" he stumbled over his words.

"Yes?" she asked, perhaps a little too eagerly.

"Uh… do you have a date to the prom?" he asked.

_Yes! Thank you God! Thank you!_

The boy wasn't particularly handsome, but he wasn't bad looking. She knew him somewhat, or at least knew of him. He was a member of the football team, she thought maybe a running back. He definitely wasn't at the top of the food chain, but he wasn't, like her, at the bottom. She saw opportunity when it knocked and it took her only a second to formulate her reply.

"Do you want to go with me?" she asked, silently cursing herself for completely jumping the gun.

"Do you want to go…" the boy started to say by rote, but then slowly he realized what she had actually said.

"Oh, um… yeah," he offered – still obviously confused.

The awkward situation was brought to an end by the bell ringing, announcing that they had only 5 minutes to get to their homerooms.

"Well, I guess we can talk about it after class. Okay?" the boy offered.

She nodded at him and then stood there dumbfounded as he walked away to his class. She would be marked tardy of course, but she quite simply just needed the time to digest what had just happened.

_I'm going to the prom. With a football player._

Suddenly she felt complete and utter elation, as if she was skipping along on clouds. Unfortunately this didn't last long as the reality of the situation set in.

_I have absolutely nothing to wear!_

-

She didn't know how her mother had done it, but she had come through for her in a big way. Just as she was despairing about not having anything appropriate to wear to the biggest dance of the school year, her mom had shown up with a long white box emblazoned with the fashionable Club Banana logo. Inside was the most darling prom dress that she had ever seen. She had wanted to ask her mom how much it had cost, but she knew instinctively that she should just let the matter drop – most likely it had cost way more than her mom should have spent, and way more than her father would be happy about. Instead she just hugged her mom, telling her, quite truthfully, that she was the "greatest mom ever".

Armed with the appropriate fashionable attire, she had begun to feel pretty good about the upcoming dance and her date. She had spent a couple of hours on the phone with him and a study period here and there over the last few days and while he probably wasn't the sharpest guy she had ever met, or the most expressive, he did seem to genuinely want to go with her to the prom. This raised him much higher in her personal opinion than she would like to admit. Although she wasn't feeling anything in particular for him right now, who knew what would happen later? Proms were magical nights for young people and you never could tell what fate had in store for you.

The hour of the dance steadily approached and while most girls would be primping right until the last minute, she instead sat in front of her vanity mirror staring at her reflection. She was surprised that she actually liked what she saw – it didn't happen often. It wasn't that she was ugly; she was just very self-conscious about her looks. She tried to have a more positive and upbeat attitude, but being the only girl (asides from her mother) in a house full of men didn't really give her much to compare herself to – she was actually quite secretly afraid that she was just plain too much of a tom-boy to attract a decent guy.

Suddenly her mom called out from downstairs, "Honey, your date is here!"

She hesitated for a second, and then gathered up her purse and practically sprinted down the stairs.

Much to her surprise the night had actually progressed pretty smoothly. Her date wasn't a great conversationalist, or even that much of a dancer, but just the fact that she was here, at her junior prom, was magic enough. For the first time since she had entered high school she actually felt like she belonged. A few people had even come up and talked to her, one boy in particular had asked her to dance. She had sadly declined him, not because she didn't want to dance with him, but because she was unsure if it would offend the boy that she had come with. She didn't know exactly how she felt about him, but she was being cautious, not willing to risk the one good thing that had happened to her so far in her high school career.

"Hey, do you want to get out of here?" he asked her.

She looked at him with confusion on her face. Why would she want to leave? The dance was a three-hour affair and they were only just barely half way through with it. She wondered to herself if there was a polite way to say that she wanted to stay.

The boy caught on to the look of indecision in her face and tried a new pitch; one that he hoped would have more success.

"A bunch of seniors are throwing an after prom party. It's actually starting pretty soon and I was thinking maybe we could go over there and hang out for a bit…"

It took a great deal of self-control for her to resist having her mouth jut open like a fish out of water. She couldn't believe in how just a few days her fortunes and her social standing seemed to be climbing upwards - First a date to the prom with a pretty popular guy and now an invitation to a senior party? Could this be it? Could this be the school life that she had always dreamed of? She quickly gathered her composure and nodded in the affirmative.

"Yes! Lets go!"

As they strode out of the school gymnasium she reflected upon how this night seemed to be the defining moment in her young adult life and how everything that had happened so far was absolutely just too good to be true.

A half an hour later, sitting in a parked car behind the school, she realized that she had never been so right.

She knew something was up the minute that they got into the car and her date didn't immediately buckle up. She had naively asked him, "Are we going to go now?" to which he had only responded that he wanted to "Chill for a few minutes."

Evidently the boy's definition of "chilling" included a great deal many things that she wasn't quite so comfortable with. First there was the paper bag wrapped bottle that he had produced from the back seat. She had never tried any herself, but from where she was sitting she could tell that it was some sort of alcoholic beverage. He had offered some to her, and initially she had refused, however she had started to worry that she was making him not like her, so against her better judgment she decided that just a few sips wouldn't hurt.

Those few sips turned into a completely empty bottle about 20 minutes later and she was starting to feel the effects. Her head was flushed, her body felt hot, and she was feeling kind of spacey. She had never been drunk before, so this was a new experience for her. She had wondered to herself why people did this for fun? She didn't feel like she was having that much fun right now, in fact she felt a little paranoid and scared.

Suddenly she found her date sitting quite close to her. The car was an older, Detroit model, with big wide bench seats and the boy was definitely moving in. He had draped one of his arms around her back at this point and was uncomfortably close. She didn't know what to do.

_What does he want? Does he just want to make out? Could I kiss him? It might not be so bad… and I'm kind of curious; I've never kissed a boy before…_

Without warning the situation was resolved for her when her date leaned in and practically mashed his lips against hers. She was surprised at first, and started to wriggle about in a little bit of a panic, but he was physically much bigger than her and he used the weight of his body leaning against her, to keep the contact going. Somewhere in her mind she decided that this wasn't so bad actually. She was nervous, very nervous actually, but it wasn't like the boy was a terrible kisser… at least the kiss didn't seem terrible.

_This… isn't so bad actually. Maybe I even kind of like it. He's kind of cute and I guess… I guess he likes me. He wouldn't be kissing me if he didn't like me, right?_

Slowly she let herself relax and she even ventured applying a little pressure to the kiss on her own. This seemed to spur her date on and she took one of his hands and placed it in her lap. It bothered her a little bit, but it didn't seem too bad. She took her hand and placed it on top of his, holding it gently while they let their lips wander across each other.

"Yeah… that's more like it baby," the guy had muttered duskily to her.

"Um… yeah it's… pretty good," she had responded in between soft, small kisses.

She was actually starting to get into it now as her natural urges combined with the alcohol started to chip away at her inhibitions. She was just about ready to smile, when what he did next completely shocked her.

_His hand… it's on my…_

"Hey!" she shouted, while she pushed him away, "What do you think you're doing?"

The boy look confused, like he didn't know why she was protesting.

"What? Why are you acting like this? I thought we were having a good time?" he complained.

She was taken aback for a moment. They had been having a good time. She had been reluctant and scared at first, but the kissing was definitely really exciting. However, when she had felt his hand snake up to her breast… it had really bothered her. She didn't know how far he wanted to go, but she knew that deep down inside her, she had a limit to what she was willing to do.

"Look… I just don't want to go that far, ok?" she tried to reason with him in a voice and tone that left open the possibilities of at least resuming where they had left off.

"Are you serious?" the boy shot back.

_Why is he acting like this? I don't understand…_

"Of course I'm serious! What's gotten into you?" she barked back at him.

"Into me? Look I don't know what kind of game you're playing but I know all about you, so why don't you just calm down and we'll go back to having a really, really good time. I promise you'll like it." At this point he reached over completely, enveloping her in his arms and burying his face in her neck.

"What? No! Get away from me!" she screamed and tried to twist away from him.

"What is going on you bitch!" he shot at her, "You too stuck up to do me too? I heard about you and the rest of the guys on the team!"

Her mind reeled at this revelation. The rest of the team? What had people been saying about her? What sort of rumors had been going on behind her back? Is this why she didn't have any friends? Is this why everyone seemed to avoid her like the plague?

_What the hell is going on? I'm a virgin! I hadn't even kissed a boy! Why? Why is this happening to me?_

She was just about to try and form those thoughts into a sentence when the slightly drunken boy snatched at the front of her dress, tearing the straps from her shoulder and exposing her bra.

He leered at her for a moment and then spoke, "Now just be quiet and we can get this done fast and then we can both go to the party and hang out."

She didn't mean to, but she had started to cry. It wasn't that she was scared; not really. She knew that if she wanted to she could lay this guy out like a cheap suit. She was just disgusted. Disgusted at her self.

She was disgusted that she had thought that a guy would actually like her. She was disgusted to think that she even had a chance of fitting in with all the other kids at her school. She was disgusted to acknowledge that just for a brief moment, she had heard this boys offer and even considered it – just for the sake of trying to fit in. There was a small part of her that was willing to trade her most special gift in return for acceptance from her peers and a small degree of popularity, and it made her feel like she was trash.

It was, quite likely, the lowest she had ever felt about her self in her entire life. That fact alone made her hate her self just that much more. Almost as quickly as the self-loathing came, so did the anger. Anger at the world that had been so uncaring, anger at the school mates that had treated her like shit to be wiped off their heels, anger at this boy who was trying to fondle and grope her. Anger wasn't a new emotion for her, she had felt it before on many occasions, but she had never felt it with such pure unadulterated intensity. She knew that right now inside her she had the hatred that it would take to kill this asshole if she had to.

"Get off me!" she snarled at the boy, pushing away his pawing hands. He might be pretty strong for a boy his age, but she was a real fighter. She had been handing super villains their asses since freshmen year. Just as she was getting ready to launch into an attack that would probably see her assailant, at the very least, in the hospital, something quite unexpected and all together remarkable happened.

He just stopped.

Actually, it wasn't like he had stopped of his own accord. It was more as if he had been sucked out of the car from the drivers side from some unknown force and then flung off somewhere into the night. She caught her breath, and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes so she could see better. Cautiously she crept forward towards the now open door, only to scream when she came face to face with another man.

"Augh!!" she bellowed straight into his face, small droplets of spittle actually wetting his eyes and chin.

To his credit, the man didn't scream back, but instead he lurched upwards, hitting the top of his head on the ceiling of the car.

"Oh… damn that's going to hurt," he muttered to himself.

The girl quickly covered her mouth, and then just as quickly tried to pull the front of her dress up. She had been startled at first, but now that she had the time to study the man peeking into the car, she recognized him. He was one of the teachers, a new one actually that had just started this last semester.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and spoke in a calm, comforting tone, "Are you ok? I just happened to be walking by when I saw what was going on… Do you need me to call your parents?"

She was so embarrassed about what had happened, about what had almost happened, that she didn't respond verbally. She merely shook her head 'no'.

"Wait, is that no, you're not ok? Or no, don't call your parents? Really, I should call someone…" he leaned over his shoulder and shouted into the night, "Like the police you stupid asshole! I know you can hear me! Don't think that this is over!"

To her utter amazement and despite everything that had just transpired, the girl found herself overcome with a strange urge to giggle. She couldn't quite remember who this teacher was, but he seemed like a nice guy.

"I'm all right and please, don't call my parents…" she said in a quiet voice.

"Are you sure about that? I don't really like the idea of that jerk getting away with what he tried to do here, I'd really like to report it… it might keep me from beating his face in if he's in jail."

That pretty much cinched it. She did like this teacher.

"It's ok Mr…" she searched around her memory for a name.

The man just smiled at her and finished the sentence.

"Stoppable. Mr. Stoppable. Although I don't feel like much of a Mister – I'm only a student teacher right now. I'm actually still in college… but I'm working hard!" he grinned broadly and offered his hand to her.

"I'm Cornelia Goldstein," she stated in a flat voice.

"I know," he said with a smile on his face, "C'mon – everyone knows the famous super hero Shego!"

She giggled a little bit at his over the top way of making her feel more comfortable about her public identity. He probably hadn't known that it was a sore point with her, but she appreciated the levity all the same.

"You know that guy's actually really lucky…" Mr. Stoppable had stated.

"Oh really?" Cornelia replied, a hint of malice creeping into her voice.

"Yep, if I didn't stop by when I did his testicles would probably be orbiting Jupiter."

She couldn't contain herself any longer. After all the loathing and angst that she had just experienced, this man's antics felt like a breath of fresh air. She let out a deep, throaty laugh that was chased with a brilliant natural smile. Yes, she liked this teacher, liked him a lot!

She hadn't known it at the time, but she had made two significant predictions on that night. Yes, some things were indeed too good to be true and yes, that night was the night that her life was going to change.

However, this time, it was going to prove to be for the better.

-

There weren't many weeks left in the end of that school year, but they passed in a flurry of activity. Mr. Stoppable, or Ron as she had taken to calling him in her own private monologues, had been like her guardian angel. He had badgered some of the other teachers into getting more serious about the amount of bullying that was going on at the school, even going so far as to get certain people expelled. She had secretly worried that he was doing all of this on her account, but when she confronted him about it he had confided to her that he too had been bullied when he was in high school and this was just his way of turning a bad experience into a positive one.

She liked that line of thinking; turning bad experiences into positive ones. Months ago she probably would have thought that it was a load of bunk, but for some reason when her Ron said it, it seemed like the wisdom of the ages. In fact, nearly everything that Ron Stoppable did seemed to be practically amazing to her. It was embarrassing, but she would be eating dinner with her parents and brothers and just find herself in the middle of a gushing rant about "Mr. Stoppable did this" or "Mr. Stoppable said that". Her parents seemed to be a little concerned, but slightly less so when they found out that this "Mr. Stoppable" was just a college student, only a few years older than Cornelia – still they kept a watchful eye on her. Her brothers on the other hand would always roll their eyes, sometimes they would even tease her, but for the most part they just ignored their sister – chalking everything up to the fact that she was a girl, and hence, a completely alien creature.

All in all however, things at Goldstein house were pretty happy for what seemed like the first time in years. No one in the family would have liked to admit it, but there was a period when they all secretly worried about Cornelia and how she was handling the stress of balancing her super heroic life with her school life. She had always been a sensitive, emotional girl, and even if it was slightly unorthodox, her school girls crush seemed to actually be helping her cope.

Summer vacation eventually came, and it was with a heavy heart that Cornelia said goodbye to her not-so-secret crush for the summer. It was so bad, so blatantly obvious, that there were even some whispers amongst the students that the two of them were having an "illegal affair". Of course, nothing like that actually was going on – but that thought did feature prominently in the secret fantasy life of Cornelia Goldstein. Still, it seemed that despite how hard she was crushing on Mr. Stoppable, he was determined to always remain a perfect gentlemen (which of course, is one of the reasons why she thought he was so perfect) and she was too shy to pursue the matter further – at least for now.

The summer was a period of profound change for Cornelia. Team Go was finally starting to really take off and have a life of their own. They had saved Go City countless times over the last couple of years and finally they were starting to get the recognition that she had felt they deserved. However, it was somewhat ironic to her that once people did start praising her, she felt as if it really wasn't as great as she had made it out to be in her head. It was confusing to say the least, and she resolved to send an email to Mr. Stoppable to see what he thought about it – plus it would be a great excuse to maybe even talk to him on the phone.

With Team Go seeming to gain more prominence, it only made sense that bigger and bigger villains would be pitting themselves against the self proclaimed protectors of Go City. New names and new faces started to appear everywhere and for a while there was talk amongst her siblings as to if they could manage to keep it all together any longer without help. Fortunately for them and for Go City, some of the new faces that sprouted up that summer were actually good guys, and they did manage to take some of the heat off of the towns signature hero team.

One of the new heroes in particular caught Cornelia's eye. He didn't seem to have any particular name, but the press had taken to calling him the "Blue Ninja" due to his midnight blue clothing and demeanor. They had first crossed paths when Team Go's arch-nemesis, Avarius, had managed to capture nearly the entire team but Shego. Out of opportunity and necessity, she had teamed up with the enigmatic heroes to save her brothers and out of this a limited partnership of sorts had been formed. Team Go was still Team Go and the Blue Ninja still worked mostly by himself, but occasionally Cornelia (as Shego) and him would team up and go on adventures of their own. All in all it was a fairly exciting arrangement and Cornelia had determined that it was always good to have as many friends as you could find to watch your back.

Soon the school year started again and Cornelia found herself struggle to juggle all the things in her life. There was her work with her brothers in Team Go, there was her school work and trying to graduate with her senior class, and then of course there were both the missions she went on with the Blue Ninja as well as what ever time she could squirrel away to spend with Ron Stoppable. She wasn't sure if it was just her familiarity with Ron, or if it was because of the fact that she was more confident these days in herself than she had ever been before, but she had actually dropped some not so oblique references to the fact that in just a few short months not only would she soon be 18 years old, but she also would no longer be a student at Go City High school.

She had even at one point gone as far as to ask Ron to show her around the campus of Go College, since she had told him that she was thinking of attending and pursuing a teaching degree in the fall. Maybe, she had said, they'd even be in some of the same classes.

The entire situation was kind of frustrating for her, because no matter what she did or said, it seemed that Ron was completely immune to her feminine charms. It wouldn't be until months later that she would find out that quite the opposite was true and that she had been torturing the poor man for almost a year.

During this period of time her relationship with the mysterious Blue Ninja also deepened. Their partnership had seemed to grow more stable and they had both found themselves calling on each other more often for assistance and help. Cornelia really liked working with him because the type of cases that he took on often gave her the opportunity to put on her "detective hat" to sort of speak. The Ninja himself was a really great detective, and while it was fun trying her hand at it, it was just as much fun learning from someone who was obviously one of the best.

As the older version of herself sat there at her kitchen table, pouring over all the memories in her hands that were destined for the scrapbook, she chuckled dryly to herself.

Oh, if only I had been a better student I wouldn't have had so much angst over my relationship with my "two men". Some detective I turned out to be I guess.

Just as she was about to put down the magazine cover, she heard the sound of an engine pulling up into the driveway. It idled for a second and then shut off.

_That must be him… Too late to help out but just in time to catch dinner. Figures!_

She actually smirked when she said this – her husband actually wasn't much of a loafer, although to hear him tell it, that's only because he had grown up substantially since he had been a teenager. Still, it was hard to imagine Ronald Dean Stoppable as anything but the enthusiastic and energetic teacher that everyone in this community had come to love.

"Honey I'm home!" he shouted from the front door, "Hey is this door supposed to be open?"

Quickly, and without warning, Cornelia spun around the corner and pounced on her husband, throwing herself into his arms.

"Mmmm!" she exclaimed as she stole a kiss from him.

"Why hello and I must say I'm rather pleased to see you too!" he chirped as he swatted her playfully on the rear.

"You can close the door if you want too sweetie, I was just airing out the place. The kids are cleaning out your tool shed…" she realized too late what she had said.

"Wait? My shed? They're touching my shed? Oh great…" Ron hung his head and set his satchel down on the couch.

"Look, I'm going to supervise… you know, make sure that they haven't…. well burned it down. Or blown it up. Or turned it into a tree house."

Cornelia giggled at him.

"You go and do your big strong man stuff dear and I'll go scurry off to the kitchen and cook dinner like a good little wife. Ok?" she rolled her eyes at her husband.

"Hey, you know I can cook… in fact I like it…" he began to protest.

Cornelia just gave him a peck on the lips and then said, "I know baby, and you're a great cook. I'm just teasing you, I want to make dinner – You know, sometimes us girls actually do like cooking a meal for our man and our babies. It's a motherhood thing."

She winked at him and then strode off towards the kitchen.

"Just call if you need any help!" he shouted out after her and then trudged out to the back yard to see what damage his genetic offspring had wrought upon the one place in the entire household that solely belonged to him.

-

Later that night as Ron Stoppable gazed down at the sleeping form of his wife he wondered to himself if he had done the right thing. Oh, he didn't regret marrying Shego, or having this life with her, or having their children – that wasn't the cause of his concern at all. He was just worried if he should let her in on the secret, the real secret of his origins in her life. Many times over the last 20 years he had considered it, but always at the last moment decided against it. Things were going so well, he mused, why open that can of worms now? He didn't think it would change how she felt about him, or their life together, but Ron had learned that there are some times in your life that you just take the win and keep on going.

When he had first realized that he had woken up in a new time, his mind had been overwhelmed with possibilities. When he actually had discovered what time it was a certain plan had begun to form in his mind. He needed to escape the infernal trap that he was in, but the only way that he could see to make that happen would be to go back to the root of the problem – the fight in the Middleton Space Center, and make sure that it never happened. There were many ways that he could have caused this to come about, and he had contemplated a great deal of them, but eventually he chose the one that he felt would do the most good.

He had decided to see if he could prevent Shego from ever being there.

He truthfully had never intended to spark a romance between them. All he had desired was to be her friend, to be her support, to be that one person in her life that she could count on. He knew how much pain she had experienced in high school, he understood it himself, and he wondered if the reason why she had turned out the way she had wasn't due to the fact that unlike the relationship Ron had with Kim, Shego had no one to rely on but herself.

He was determined to not let that happen again.

It was a little awk-weird, running around the world knowing that there was a doppelganger of yourself also roaming around, but the two Ron's had miraculously never met – and probably wouldn't. Both him and Shego had retired from the hero business about the time their second child had come along, although Ron did still occasionally do a mission or two for an old friend. The other Ron and Kim, it seemed, were still going strong into their mid 30's – fighting the good fight and generally being a pain in the ass to super villains everywhere. They had even gotten married, although there didn't seem to be any children in the relationship.

Ron had often wondered if the events of that one night upon his return from Japan had played themselves out exactly the same in this time stream as they had in the last. It was mostly a whimsy on his part, since that obviously was no longer his life – but he was always curious about the history that he remembered and the history that had been rewritten by his reoccurring presence in the time stream. He vowed that if he ever did run into himself, that would be one of the questions that he would ask – even though he knew it would probably piss… well - himself, right off.

Shego murmured something in her sleep that sounded suspiciously like, "Go to sleep Ron…" and he marveled at how his lovely wife seemed to be omniscient. It was surely a trait that she had picked up somewhere along the road to motherhood, because he couldn't remember her ever being able to boss him around in her dreams before.

_Truly, women are amazing creatures._

He chuckled to himself at this thought and leaned across his still slumbering wife to turn off the bed lamp. Then he gently snuggled up to her side and laid his head next to hers on the pillow. Gently he kissed her upon the cheek and then whispered into her ear the same thing he said to her every night.

"_Sweet dreams my Bella…_"

-FIN-

A/N: I hope people enjoyed this mega huge economy sized super family package edition of Ron Stoppable: Ultimate Monkey Master. I'd apologize for this chapter being so enormous, but frankly I don't feel like I did anything wrong! I was determined to finally finish this story and I wanted to make sure that I got it all out in the way that it was in my head, so one mega 55 page typed chapter it was!

Anyway, once again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this work of fiction as much as I had fun writing it. The entire work measures up at about 200,000 words and I can hardly believe that I've written that much.

Maybe if there is some interest I will write the story of Shego and the Blue Ninja some day – I think it might be good for a lark.

Thanks again,

QC


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